Dietary and socio-economic factors in relation to Helicobacter pylori re-infection

Table 1 Characteristics of the examined groups

	Group I HP (+)			Group II HP (-)
	n	Mean	Range	n	Mean	Range
Age (yr)
Women	47	63	24-88	103	62	17-87
Men	64	57	27-79	72	54	18-80
Total	111	60	24-88	175	58	17-87
BMI
Women	47	24.8	16.3-32.5	103	24.8	15.6-48.9
Men	64	26.1	15.5-36.1	72	24.9	16.2-39.7
Total	111	25.5	15.5-36.1	175	24.9	15.6-48.9

Table 2 Comparison of selected dietary factors in the examined groups n (%)

Factors	Responses	Group I HP (+) n = 1111	Group II HP (-) n = 1751	Statistical signifi-cance (P)
Regularity of eating meals (3-5)	Yes	55 (52)	97 (56)	NS
	No	51 (48)	76 (44)
Meals prepared on their own	Yes	53 (48)	105 (60)	0.02
	Sometimes	18 (16)	33 (19)
	No	40 (36)	37 (21)
Adding fat to stewed, fried and baked dishes	Yes	75 (68)	133 (77)	NS
	Sometimes	3 (2)	1 (1)
	No	33 (30)	38 (22)
Adding fat or dressing to salads	Yes	67 (61)	121 (69)	NS
	Sometimes	3 (3)	3 (2)
	No	39 (36)	51 (29)
Using fats to spread on bread	Yes	94 (85)	157 (90)	NS
	Sometimes	2 (2)	5 (3)
	No	15 (13)	13 (7)
Eating dairy products	Frequently	45 (41)	154 (89)	< 0.0001
	With moderate frequency	30 (27)	9 (5)
	Rarely	36 (32)	11 (6)
Eating fermented milk drinks (yoghurts, kefirs)	Frequently	48 (43)	166 (95)	< 0.0001
	Rarely	63 (57)	9 (5)
Eating meat products and dishes	Frequently	82 (75)	120 (69)	NS
	With moderate frequency	19 (17)	40 (23)
	Rarely	8 (7)	14 (8)
Types of meat products and dishes eaten	Fatty	3 (3)	2 (1)	NS
	Medium-fatty	8 (8)	5 (3)
	Lean	63 (60)	110 (66)
	Varying	30 (29)	50 (30)
Eating fish	Frequently	31 (28)	53 (30)	NS
	With moderate frequency	33 (30)	58 (33)
	Rarely	47 (42)	64 (37)
Eating vegetables	Frequently	82 (74)	152 (87)	0.02
	With moderate frequency	21 (19)	17 (10)
	Rarely	8 (7)	6 (3)
Eating fruit	Frequently	65 (58)	133 (76)	0.008
	With moderate frequency	24 (22)	23 (13)
	Rarely	22 (20)	19 (11)
Eating sweets	Frequently	26 (24)	47 (27)	NS
	With moderate frequency	28 (25)	46 (26)
	Rarely	57 (51)	82 (47)
Sweetening of drinks (coffee, tea)	Yes	79 (71)	115 (66)	NS
	Sometimes	2 (2)	5 (3)
	No	30 (27)	55 (31)
Alcoholic drinks consumption	Frequently	14 (13)	9 (5)	NS
	With moderate frequency	18 (16)	29 (17)
	Rarely	79 (71)	136 (78)
Eating salty dishes	Yes	35 (32)	52 (30)	NS
	Sometimes	15 (13)	20 (11)
	No	61 (55)	103 (59)
Additional salting of products and dishes eaten	Yes	21 (20)	39 (24)	NS
	Sometimes	7 (6)	9 (6)
	No	79 (74)	113 (70)

¹Number of persons changed between 104-111 persons in group I and 167-175 persons in group II, which results from the fact that some patients did not provide an answer to some questions; NS-value statistically insignificant.

Table 3 Comparison of selected lifestyle factors in examined groups n (%)

Factors	Responses	Group I HP (+) n = 1111	Group II HP (-) n = 1751
Working	Yes	28 (25)	39 (23)
	No	83 (75)	134 (77)
Working overtime or on weekends	Yes	18 (78)	22 (60)
	Sometimes	1 (4)	3 (8)
	No	4 (18)	12 (32)
Additional work outside the main job	Yes	6 (8)	8 (7)
	No	65 (92)	110 (93)
Feeling tired	Very often	58 (53)	96 (55)
	Rather often	16 (14)	27 (16)
	Rather rarely	26 (24)	40 (23)
	Hardly ever	10 (9)	11 (6)
Self-assessed stress exposure	Very often	47 (43)	89 (51)
	Rather often	15 (13)	27 (16)
	Rather rarely	37 (34)	42 (24)
	Hardly ever	11 (10)	15 (9)
Smoking	Yes	36 (32)	54 (31)
	No	75 (68)	120 (69)

¹Number of persons changed between 23-111 persons in group I and 37-175 persons in group II, which results from the fact that some patients did not provide an answer to some questions.