PMID- 38172074
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20240501
LR  - 20240501
IS  - 1878-3503 (Electronic)
IS  - 0035-9203 (Linking)
VI  - 118
IP  - 5
DP  - 2024 May 1
TI  - Knowledge and approach towards Helicobacter pylori diagnosis and management among 
      primary care physicians in Cameroon: a cross-sectional study.
PG  - 313-320
LID - 10.1093/trstmh/trad089 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low- and middle-income countries have a high prevalence of 
      Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI). In Cameroon, the majority of HPIs are 
      diagnosed and treated by primary care physicians (PCPs). We sought to assess the 
      knowledge and practices of PCPs in the diagnosis and management of HPI in 
      Cameroon. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out in four 
      randomly selected regions of Cameroon from November 2021 to June 2022. In each of 
      the selected regions, PCPs were recruited by non-probability convenience sampling 
      and interviewed using a pre-structured questionnaire. Chi-squared, Fisher's exact 
      and Student's t-tests were performed for descriptive analyses. Multivariable 
      logistic regression was used to examine associations between knowledge and 
      practice, with the model adjusted by age of the PCP, geographic region, number of 
      patients and years in practice. Analysis was performed in SAS version 9.4 (SAS 
      Institute, Cary, NC, USA). RESULTS: A total of 382 PCPs were included in the 
      analysis. The majority (60.0%) were males between the ages of 20-29 y (64.1%). 
      Most PCPs (80.9%) reported that HPI is the cause of gastroesophageal reflux 
      disease and 41.8% reported that HPI is the main cause of dyspeptic symptoms. The 
      dominant diagnostic tests used for HPI were serology (52.8%) and stool antigen 
      (30.9%). The most frequently used first-line therapies were amoxicillin (AMX), 
      clarithromycin (CLA), metronidazole (MNZ) and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) 
      concomitant therapy (32.2%), AMX-CLA-PPI triple therapy (18.6%) and AMX-MNZ-PPI 
      triple therapy (13.1%). Half of the practitioners (48.6%) treat HPI empirically, 
      without positive H. pylori testing. About half of the PCPs (48%) do not request 
      laboratory confirmation of H. pylori eradication following treatment. 
      CONCLUSIONS: There is inadequate knowledge and significant differences in the 
      clinical approach towards HPI among PCPs in Cameroon. We recommend more teaching 
      programs and continuous medical education on HPI.
CI  - (c) The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal 
      Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
FAU - Tazinkeng, Nkengeh
AU  - Tazinkeng N
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-6565-5193
AD  - Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
AD  - Department of Research, Pan-African Organization for Health, Education and 
      Research, Lusaka, Zambia.
AD  - Department of Population Health Research, Health Education and Research 
      Organization, Buea, Cameroon.
FAU - Monteiro, Joao Filipe
AU  - Monteiro JF
AD  - Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Rhode Island, USA.
FAU - Mbianyor, Bill-Erich
AU  - Mbianyor BE
AD  - Department of Population Health Research, Health Education and Research 
      Organization, Buea, Cameroon.
FAU - Nowbuth, Avis Anya
AU  - Nowbuth AA
AD  - Department of Research, Pan-African Organization for Health, Education and 
      Research, Lusaka, Zambia.
FAU - Ntonifor, Monela
AU  - Ntonifor M
AD  - Department of Population Health Research, Health Education and Research 
      Organization, Buea, Cameroon.
AD  - Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
FAU - Evenge, Claudia
AU  - Evenge C
AD  - Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
FAU - Nkhoma, Alick
AU  - Nkhoma A
AD  - Royal Stoke Hospital, NHS Trust, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
FAU - Moss, Steven F
AU  - Moss SF
AD  - Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Rhode Island, USA.
FAU - Asombang, Akwi W
AU  - Asombang AW
AD  - Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
AD  - Department of Research, Pan-African Organization for Health, Education and 
      Research, Lusaka, Zambia.
LA  - eng
GR  - Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene/
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg
JT  - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
JID - 7506129
RN  - 0 (Anti-Bacterial Agents)
RN  - 0 (Proton Pump Inhibitors)
RN  - 804826J2HU (Amoxicillin)
SB  - IM
MH  - Humans
MH  - Cameroon/epidemiology
MH  - *Helicobacter Infections/diagnosis/drug therapy/epidemiology
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Female
MH  - Male
MH  - *Helicobacter pylori
MH  - Adult
MH  - *Physicians, Primary Care/education
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - *Practice Patterns, Physicians'/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires
MH  - Young Adult
MH  - Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use
MH  - Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
MH  - Proton Pump Inhibitors/therapeutic use
MH  - Amoxicillin/therapeutic use
MH  - Clinical Competence
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - H. pylori
OT  - Cameroon
OT  - antibiotics
OT  - primary care physicians
EDAT- 2024/01/04 11:43
MHDA- 2024/05/01 13:30
CRDT- 2024/01/03 22:12
PHST- 2023/05/24 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/09/26 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/11/30 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2024/05/01 13:30 [medline]
PHST- 2024/01/04 11:43 [pubmed]
PHST- 2024/01/03 22:12 [entrez]
AID - 7478731 [pii]
AID - 10.1093/trstmh/trad089 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2024 May 1;118(5):313-320. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trad089.