Accuracy Of ¹³C-Urea Breath Test In Helicobacter Pylori Infection In Children:Adjustthecut-Offvalueaccordingto Age And Gender

Object:To evaluate the accuracy of ¹³C-urea breath test(¹³C-UBT)in Helicobacter pylori infection in children,to verify whether there is agender or age difference in the ¹³C-UBT results,and to adjust the cut-off value of delta over baseline（DOB）accordingto age and gender.Methods:The subjects were 390 children with H.pylori infection and189 children without H.pylori infection aged from 3 to 18 years old who were diagnosed in the affiliated Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 1,2016 to December 31,2020.The differences of DOB values among H.pylori infected children of different ages and genders were analyzed,and the best DOB cutoffvalue was calculated by using receiver operating characteristic curve（ROC curve）.Result:Among the children with H.pyloriinfection,the DOB value of the children aged 6 yearsoldor less was higher than that of the children older than 6 years old,and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.01）.For the children older than 9 years old,the DOB value of females with H.pylori infection was higher than that of males,and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.01）.The diagnosticaccuracy of ¹³C-UBT in H.pylori infection in children was 93.1%.The optimal cut-off values of DOB for children aged 6 yearsoldor less,children older than 6 yearsold,girls olderthan 9 yearsold and boys olderthan 9 years oldwere 9.856,5.612,7.030 and 5.551 respectively.Conclusion:¹³C-UBT has high diagnostic accuracy for detecting H.pylori infection in children.DOB is affected by age and gender.And adjusting the cut-off values for ¹³C-UBT positivity according to age and genderis suggested to improve thediagnostic accuracy of ¹³C-UBT in H.pylori infection in children.