PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Almadi, Majid A.
AU  - Aljebreen, Abdulrahman M.
AU  - Tounesi, Fadi A.
AU  - Abdo, Ayman A.
TI  - Helicobacter pylori prevalence among medical students in a high endemic area
DP  - 2007 Jun 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 896--898
VI  - 28
IP  - 6
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/28/6/896.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/28/6/896.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2007 Jun 01; 28
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) among Saudi medical students.METHODS: Volunteer medical students were randomly selected in the College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 2005 to May 2005. A urea breath test (UBT) was performed for each medical student. Important demographic data was recorded. Each student had to answer a questionnaire on upper gastrointestinal (UGI) symptoms before the UBT.RESULTS: A total of 120 students were recruited (73 males [61%] and 47 females [39%]) with a mean age of 22.2 years (age varied from 18 to 28 years). The prevalence of H. pylori was surprisingly low at 35%, compared to a previously reported high prevalence among the Saudi population (80%). Thirty-one percent of medical students reported >/= 1 UGI symptom with no significant differences between the positive and negative UBT results. Although there was a trend, there was no significant prevalence difference between the preclinical and the clinical group of students.CONCLUSION: We found a low prevalence of H. pylori in our young university medical student's population. The low prevalence of H. pylori in this young population may have important clinical and economic implications.