Helicobacter Pylori Infection in Relation to Anthropometric Indices among Young Population in Iran

Background: Previous researches reported inconclusive findings on theinteraction of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection with body indices,although, most of these studies used body mass index (BMI) to assess such anassociation. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of H.pyloriseropositivity with anthropometric indices as well as blood pressure (BP) amonga group of young population in Zahedan, a city in south-east of Iran. Methods: Atotal of 363 undergraduate students participated in this cross-sectional study, in2014. Serum IgG antibodies against H.pylori were measured and the cut-off levelof antibody titers more than or equal to 20 was considered as H.pylori positive.Anthropometric indices and BP were measured using standard protocols.Results: Data analysis indicated that H.pylori seropositivity was equal to 45.7% .H.pylori positive participants had significantly lower mean values of BMI (P =0.01), waist circumference (WC), and waist to height ratio (WHtR) which wasmarginally significant (P = 0.05) compared to H.pylori negative participants. Nosignificant differences were found in waist to hip ratio (WHpR), as well assystolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between thetwo groups. Although, after adjustment for confounding factors, higher valuesof BMI (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.003-3.2) and WHtR (OR = 1.04, 95%CI = 1.001-2.71) were positively correlated with higher odds of H.pyloripositivity. Conclusions: H.pylori positivity was correlated with higher BMI andWHtR after adjusting for other variables, but no correlation was observed forWC, WHpR, or BP among a group of young undergraduate students in southeastof Iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

Helicobacter pylori ، Anthropometric indices ، Blood pressure ، Young population ، Iran