Effect of Helicobacter pylori eradication on elder cases: Observational study in community-based medicine

AIM To examine the effect of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication therapy on the extra-gastrointestinal factors in elderly patients by a before-after observational study in community medicine. METHODS Medical records (1 May 2013-31 January 2014) of 130 patients who underwent H. pylori eradication therapy with 2-year after-eradication observation in our institute were reviewed. Data on sex; age; body weight; body mass index (BMI); mean corpuscular volume (MCV); total protein; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, haemoglobin A1c and haemoglobin levels and gastric hyperplastic polyps (GHPs) at eradication was extracted. Two-year after-eradication change in data was analysed by paired-sample t-test; relationship between GHPs and subclinical iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) improvement was evaluated. RESULTS The mean patient age (median, interquartile range) at eradication was 69.6 (71.5, 64-77) years. Paired-sample t-tests showed that body weight, BMI and MCV increased by 0.52 kg (P = 0.018), 0.25 kg/m2 (P = 0.006) and 0.83 fL (P < 0.001), respectively. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test showed no significant difference in the change rate of MCV after eradication between the groups with and without GHPs (P = 0.892). CONCLUSION H. pylori eradication therapy prevented weight loss and subclinical IDA in elderly individuals. GHPs were not associated with subclinical IDA.