Helicobacter pylori and abdominal symptoms: a population-based study among preschool children in southern Germany.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the relation of Helicobacter pylori infection with gastrointestinal symptoms in a healthy population-based sample of children.

DESIGN

Population-based cross-sectional study of preschool children.

SETTING

Screening examination for school fitness by physicians of the Public Health Service in Ulm, a city with 100 000 inhabitants in southern Germany.

PARTICIPANTS

One thousand two hundred one preschool children.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Infection status was determined by 13C-urea breath test. Information on gastrointestinal symptoms was collected from children's parents by a standardized questionnaire and integrated into a symptom score. Results. Nine hundred forty-five children participated in the study (response rate, 79%). Overall, 127 children (13.4%) were infected. H pylori infection was not positively related to specific gastrointestinal symptomatology. Infected children had even fewer symptoms when compared with uninfected children.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that H pylori infection in children is mostly asymptomatic and not associated with specific gastrointestinal symptoms.