Abstract

The aim of this study was to find out the risk factors of gastric intestinal metaplasia (IM) in northwest of China. A retrospective case-control study was conducted with a well-designed questionnaire, including basic information and related factors. Totally 2157 subjects with benign upper gastrointestinal disorders from Xijing hospital and the second affiliated hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University were enrolled in this study, among which 332 cases were patients with IM and another 1825 patients without IM served as controls. The IM was diagnosed by gastroscopy and/or gastric mucosal pathology. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection was measured by 13C- or 14C-urea breath test or by rapid urease test. The multivariate analysis showed that the risk factors of IM were age ≧ 60 yrs (OR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.70 to 3.03; P < 0.001), H. pylori infection (OR, 2.67; 95% CI, 2.22 to 3.21; P < 0.001), smoking (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.54 to 3.15; P < 0.001), family history of gastric cancer (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.48 to 3.33; P < 0.001), high salt diet (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.18 to 2.13; P = 0.002) and spicy food (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.96; P = 0.013). These results indicate that the risk factors of IM in northwest of China are consistent to well-known risk factors for gastric cancer, and patients with age ≧ 60 yrs, H. pylori infection, smoking, family history of gastric cancer, high salt diet and spicy food should be followed-up and screened for IM and gastric cancer.

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