Evaluation of Helicobacter pylori Infection and Its Relation with Coated Tongue in Patients Referring to UBT

Introduction: Mouth and tongue are prone to various changes resulting from inflammatory reactions, due to their contact with various factors,. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of helicobacter pylori infections and its relationship with coated tongue in the patients referring for urease breath test.   Materials & Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 606 patients including 70 men (i.e.,34.7%) and 132 women (i.e.,65.3%) referring to Liver and Digestive research center of Sanandaj Tohid Hospital during the last season of 2015 and the first season of 2016 for urea breath test. The participants were selected through randomized systematic method (i.e., one out of three individuals).In this regard,202 patients meeting the inclusion criteria and expressing their consent were evaluated. The data were analyzed in SPSS software so that the questions were examined using descriptive statistics and the hypotheses were analyzed using chi-square and logistic regression test. Findings: The result indicated that men and women constituted 70 (i.e., 34.7%) and 132 (i.e.,65.3%) of the sample group. The average age of the patients was 30.77 and the standard deviation was 17.40, ranging from 7 to 75 years old. In addition,it was revealed that 41.1% of the patients with coated tongue had Helicobacter pylori infection, whereas this value was 22.7% in the participants with non-coated tongue. The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between coated tongue and Helicobacter infection (P=0.025). Meanwhile, logistic regression test confirmed the coated tongue as a prognostic(P=0.015).   Discussion & Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, there was a higher risk of Helicobacter pylori infection in women with coated tongue who were older than 30. However, more research is recommended for more reliable results.