prevalence of helicobacter pylori and intestinal metaplasia in consecutive gastritis patients; over the period of 7 years

background: helicobacter pylori ( h. pylori ) is the cause of most cases of peptic ulcers and gastric cancers and cause some of the most important cause of stomach cancer and lymphoma. the objective of this study was to evaluate the time trend of helicobacter pylori prevalence and presence of intestinal metaplasia over the period of 7 years in gastritis iranian patients. materials and methods: in this cross-section study data related to h. pylori and intestinal metaplasia (im) among 14,860 consecutive gastritis patients, who referred to the gastrointestinal department of tehran’s taleghani hospital in iran, was examined across the sex and age group. results: the overall prevalence rate among patient with h . pylori infection was 83.5% (12406/14860) and 11,394 (84.1%) of them were related to the gastritis. the prevalence rate of h. pylori among patient with gastritis significantly higher ( p <0.05) compared to patients without gastritis. in addition, the prevalence decreased with age while the presence of intestinal metaplasia increased with age ( p <0.05). conclusion: the results of this study showed that the prevalence of h. pylori infection in iranian population has declined in recent years; nevertheless it seems to be highly prevalent in iran. we also find a significant positive relationship between h. pylori infection and im with gastritis. there is no association between sex and infection but in contrast with the most studies its prevalence decreased with age.