Complete symptom resolution as predictor of Helicobacter pylori eradication and factors affecting symptom resolution: Prospective follow up study

BACKGROUND: Symptom resolution is the most common clinical practice during assessment and evaluation of helicobacter pylori infected patients after employing eradication therapy. OBJECTIVE: Prediction of eradication of H. pylori with symptom resolution and assess factors affecting symptom resolution. METHOD: Facility based follow up study was done on consented H. pylori positive adult patients who received standard triple therapy consisting of a proton pump inhibitor, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin from May 2016 to April 2018 at Bahir Dar city in Ethiopia. Sociodemographic and clinical data was collected before and after eradication therapy by using pre-developed structured questionnaire. Both positive and negative predictive values were calculated. SPSS version 23 was used to conduct bivariate and backward stepwise multivariate logistic regression to analyze data. P-value < 0.05 at 95%CI was considered as significant. RESULT: The study involved a total of 421 patients who completed follow up. Patients’ mean age and body weight (±SD) were 30.63 (± 10.74) years and 56.71 (± 10.19) kg, respectively. Complete symptom resolution was achieved in 84.3% of the patients and eradication of H. pylori was successful in 90% of patients. Positive predictive value of complete symptom resolution for H. pylori eradication was 98.9% (351/355) and whereas negative predictive value was 57.6%(38/66). Factors associated with complete symptom resolution were regimen completion (AOR: 2.77 95%CI (1.12–6.86), p = 0.028) and no use of traditional homemade supplements prepared from Fenugreek or Flaxseed (AOR: 2.09 95%CI (1.22–3.58), p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Complete symptom resolution is a powerful predictor of success of H. pylori eradication and can be used to assess H. pylori status after eradication therapy. Assessment of complete symptom resolution should consider regimen completion and traditional practice of using homemade supplements prepared from Fenugreek or Flaxseed.