Quality of Life in Children With Recurrent Abdominal Pain Caused by Helicobacter Pylori Infection in Bandung, Indonesia

AIM : Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common problem among children. Currently Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) infection is one of the largest organic causes in children with RAP. Several studies reported the associations between quality of life (QOL) and RAP remained controversial. Our study aimed to determine QOL in children with RAP caused by H. pylori infection. METHODS : A cross-sectional study was conducted on junior and senior high school students age ranged from 12 to 18 in Bandung at 2017, who were presenting RAP with H. pylori infection. Analysis of QOL between positive and negative H. pylori infection using chi square test and p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS :: The number of children who experience RAP there were 439 out of 2,538 school children (17.3%). Those who met the inclusion criteria in this study were 149 children with 46 were positive for H. pylori infection (30.9%). There was no significant association QOL with H. pylori infection in children with RAP ( p = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS : Our study found there was a tendency bad QOL in children infected with H. Pylori more than good QOL, nevertheless no significant differences among both H. pylori -infected and non-infected children.