Prevalence and risk factors of intestinal metaplasiain patients with dyspepsia

Intestinal metaplasia in the stomach is one of the precancerous lesions of gastric tissue. If the lesions are diagnosed early before invasive cancer develops, it is possible to prevent the progression to malignant lesions. Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of intestinal metaplasia in patients with dyspepsia.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on patients who were referred to Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Hamadan, Iran from the beginning of 2019 to the end of 2020. A total of 250 patients over 16 years of age who complained of dyspepsia for at least more than three months were included in the study. Examination was performed for patients along with the completion of a pre-designed questionnaire including demographic information and metaplasia risk factors. Also, endoscopy and biopsy specimen of gastric mucosa were performed for histological examination. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 with related statistical tests.

 There was no significant relationship between job type, level of education, marital status and family history of gastric cancer, smoking, alcohol, high salt, dairy products and high-nitrate diet with the disease. There was a significant relationship between body mass index and the presence of intestinal metaplasia in men (P=0.032). The average age of men with metaplasia was about 13 years older than those without the disease. Also gastric ulcer (84%) and pan gastritis (40.4%) were the most common cases in endoscopic results. The number of female patients with epigastric pain was about 14% higher than male patients. Gastric ulcer was significantly associated with gender, with about 12% more gastric ulcers observed in men than women (P=0.014). Also, no significant relationship was observed between the presence of Helicobacter pylori and the severity of its colonization with intestinal metaplasia. (P=0.230)

In this study, no significant relationship was observed between the presence of Helicobacter pylori and the severity of its colonization simultaneously with intestinal metaplasia. Apart from the two factors of increasing age and type of sex, no serious risk factors for intestinal metaplasia were seen.