PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - F Sitas
AU  - D Forman
AU  - J W Yarnell
AU  - M L Burr
AU  - P C Elwood
AU  - S Pedley
AU  - K J Marks
TI  - Helicobacter pylori infection rates in relation to age and social class in a population of Welsh men.
AID  - 10.1136/gut.32.1.25
DP  - 1991 Jan 01
TA  - Gut
PG  - 25--28
VI  - 32
IP  - 1
4099  - http://gut.bmj.com/content/32/1/25.short
4100  - http://gut.bmj.com/content/32/1/25.full
SO  - Gut1991 Jan 01; 32
AB  - The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to Helicobacter pylori was determined using a standard enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in a population of 749 randomly selected men, aged 30-75 years, from Caerphilly, South Wales. The overall prevalence of H pylori was 56.9%, increasing sharply in middle age from 29.8% in those aged 30-34 to over 59% in those aged 45 or older (p less than 0.0001). Age standardised seroprevalence rates were lowest in combined social class categories I and II (49.2%), intermediate in categories IIIN and M (57.5%), and highest in categories IV and V (62.2%) (p = 0.01). In those aged 30-34 years, the prevalence rate for those in combined social class categories IV and V was 57.9% - double the rate for social class categories IIIM and N (28.3%) and five times the prevalence rate in those in social class categories I and II (11.1%). These differences in the infection patterns of H pylori by social class are consistent with patterns of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer.