Helicobacter pylori infection: Knowledge and attitudes of college students in South Darfur State, Sudan

Background. Helicobacter pylori infection is a significant global health issue, affecting ~4.4 billion individuals worldwide in 2015, ~60% of the world’s population at that time. Knowledge and attitudes regarding H. pylori among college students remain poorly understood. Objectives. To assess knowledge and attitudes of college students regarding H. pylori infection. Methods. A cross-sectional study of 323 participants from a college population was conducted from March to April 2023. Results. Of the 323 participants, (42.7%) were male and (57.3%) were female. The majority of the students (86.4%) lived in urban areas, as opposed to 12.1% in rural areas. Overall, the participants demonstrated good knowledge about H. pylori; 87.3% knew that it is a bacterium that causes peptic ulcers, and 57.0% were aware that it can cause cancer. Personal reading was the most common source of information (44.0%), followed by mass media (31.3%) and social media (24.8%). Most participants (87.9%) believed that H. pylori infection can be treated with medication (‘tablets’). Just over half (50.2%) had undergone testing for H. pylori. The diagnostic investigation that most participants would prefer was the stool antigen test (36.5%), followed by a blood test (26.9%), the urea breath test (9.0%) and endoscopy (6.5%). While most of the participants demonstrated a reasonable understanding of H. pylori infection, some knowledge gaps were identified. Conclusion. The study findings highlighted the importance of implementing targeted education programmes to address the knowledge gaps identified among college students.