Association Between Helicobacter pylori Infection and Iron Deficiency Anemia in Adult Patients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital.

BACKGROUND

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) has been increasingly associated with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, especially in developing countries.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the association between H. pylori infection and IDA severity and to compare hematological parameters between H. pylori-positive and -negative adult patients attending a tertiary care hospital.

METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional analytical study conducted at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, from January 2025 to December 2025. Consecutive non-probability sampling was used to recruit a total of 236 adult patients with IDA. Stool antigen testing was used to diagnose infection with H. pylori. Hematological parameters, such as hemoglobin, serum ferritin, serum iron, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), were determined. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics, version 26, while the chi-square test and independent t-test were used to determine the association of the data.

RESULTS

H. pylori infection was positive in 136 (57.63%) patients and negative in 100 (42.37%). A significant association was observed between infection and moderate-to-severe anemia (p < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 2.58). Hemoglobin levels were significantly lower in infected patients (9.31 ± 1.42 vs. 10.72 ± 1.39 g/dL, p < 0.001). Similarly, serum ferritin (11.02 ± 5.10 vs. 19.48 ± 6.25 ng/mL, p < 0.001), serum iron (40.65 ± 11.02 vs. 59.37 ± 12.10 µg/dL, p < 0.001), TIBC (415.28 ± 39.21 vs. 354.62 ± 40.85 µg/dL, p < 0.001), and MCV (70.84 ± 6.72 vs. 78.91 ± 6.88 fL, p < 0.001) also showed statistically significant differences between groups.

CONCLUSION

IDA severity and hematologic parameters are significantly associated with H. pylori infection in adult patients.