Abstract:

Objective: To investigate the mastery status of standard diagnosis and treatment of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection among general practitioners in Pudong New Area of Shanghai and its influencing factors. Methods: From January to May in 2021, 348 general practitioners from 24 community health service centers in Pudong New Area were selected by using stratified random sampling method. A self-made questionnaire (full score of 30) was used to investigate the general practitioners′ mastery of Hp infection diagnosis, treatment and prevention. According to the scores, they were divided into poor mastery group (0-10 points), moderate mastery group (11-20 points) and good mastery group (21-30 points), and the differences among the groups were compared. Results: A total of 320 valid questionnaires were collected in this survey, and the general practitioners′ mastery of standard diagnosis and treatment of Hp infection was at a high level, with an average score of 21.69. There were 116 people in the moderate mastery group, accounting for 36.25%, with an average score of 17.53 points. There were 204 people in the good mastery group, accounting for 63.75%, with an average score of 24.05 points, and 0 people in the poor mastery group. For diagnosis of current Hp infection, only 50.0% of general practitioners knew that fecal Hp antigen positive was one of diagnostic criteria, while 66.6% of general practi-tioners mistakenly believed that serum Hp antibody positive could be used for diagnosing Hp infection. In terms of indications for eradication treatment of Hp infection, only 41.9% of general practitioners believed that "confirmation of Hp infection" was the indication of eradication treatment. There were significant differences in educational background and working years between the moderate mastery group and the good mastery group. In terms of standardized treatment, fol-lowup and prevention of Hp infection, there were significant differences in other options between the two groups except for the choice of antibiotics (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the working years was the influencing factors for the general practitioners′ mastery of the standardized diagnosis and treatment of Hp infection, which was inversely proportional to the mastery. Conclusions: The general practitioners in Pudong New Area do not have enough knowledge about the current infection of Hp and the indications of eradication treatment. It is necessary to strengthen the training on the indications of diagnosis and eradication treatment of Hp infection among all general practitioners, especially senior general practitioners.

Key words: General practitioner, Helicobacter pylori, Serum antibody, Years of service