Optimizing Helicobacter pylori therapy through gastroenterologist education: A prospective interventional study

BACKGROUND Enhancing the professionalism of physicians in diagnosing and treating Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori ) infection is crucial, given their pivotal role in the eradication therapy. AIM To explore the effectiveness of a single training course on H. pylori eradication therapy in gastroenterologists. METHODS This was a prospective, before-and-after, non-randomized interventional study based on real-world data. From March 2022 to December 2023, each physician enrolled 25 patients and acquired review outcomes, before they underwent professional training. Following this educational intervention, each physician proceeded to enroll an additional cohort of 25 patients and obtained subsequent review results for comparison. The primary outcome was a comparison of H. pylori eradication rate among gastroenterologists before and after training. RESULTS In total, 20 physicians and 1000 patients were finally analyzed. After training, the eradication rates improved significantly in both intention-to-treat analysis [58.6% vs 71.6%, odds ratio (OR) = 1.785, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.370-2.325, P < 0.001] and per-protocol analysis (81.2% vs 88.6%, OR = 1.788, 95%CI: 1.191-2.684, P = 0.005). The therapy standardization rates (71.0% vs 89.6%, OR = 3.519, 95%CI: 2.490-4.974, P < 0.001) and patient review rates (71.4% vs 80.4%, OR = 1.643, 95%CI: 1.225-2.204, P = 0.001) also improved significantly. However, no improvement was found in adverse reaction documentation rates (21.0% vs 21.2%, OR = 1.010, 95%CI: 0.743-1.372, P = 0.951). Subgroup analysis revealed that physicians with less experience and historically lower eradication rates benefited more from the training course. CONCLUSION A one-time training course on H. pylori eradication in physicians could improve H. pylori eradication rates, as well as therapy standardization rates and patient review rates.