Higher seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korean adolescent athletes compared to age- and sex-matched non-athletes.

BACKGROUND: Poor living conditions, such as overcrowding and bed-sharing, are reported to be significant risk factors for Helicobacter pylori infection throughout childhood. We investigated the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Korean athletes who are obliged to live together in training camps for more than 6 months in a year.
METHODS: Blood sampling and surveying through questionnaire were performed on 440 students from a regular high school (228 boys and 212 girls) and 220 athletes (148 boys and 72 girls) of a physical education high school. We measured serum immunoglobulin G antibody (IgG Ab) to H. pylori in order to compare the prevalence of H. pylori infection between normal adolescents and athletes. In addition, we conducted a nutritional analysis and questionnaire survey for socioeconomic status in order to compare other risk factors that might influence H. pylori infection between groups.
RESULTS: The prevalence of H. pylori infection in athletes (43.2%) was higher than that in the controls (22.7%). No significant differences in the nutritional factors or socioeconomic status, such as Hollingshead index, type of house, number of siblings, and crowding index, were found between the groups. Multivariate analysis showed that crowding and the difference in school type were the significant predictors of H. pylori seropositivity after controlling for dietary and socioeconomic factors.
CONCLUSION: The seroprevalence of H. pylori infection was higher in adolescent athletes than in age- and sex-matched regular students. Further prospective study is needed to confirm the observation.