Selected socio-economic features and the prevalence of peptic ulcer among Polish rural population

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the prevalence of peptic ulcer and the occurrence of selected socio-economic features among Polish rural population. The study was conducted based on the all- Polish representative study of the state of health of rural population, and covered a group of 6,512 rural inhabitants aged 20-64 -- 3,107 males and 3,405 females selected by two-stage stratified sampling. Peptic ulcer was diagnosed in 348 people in the study (5.3%): 250 males (8.0%) and 98 females (2.9%). Duodenal ulcer occurred in 3.2% of people examined, followed by gastric ulcer -- 1.2%, duodenal and gastric ulcer -- 0.2%, and 0.9% of patients underwent surgical procedures due to peptic ulcer. Peptic ulcer occurred more frequently among people with a lower education level (lack of education -- 7.8%, elementary school education -- 5.8%), compared to those with higher education categories (elementary vocational -- 4.9%, secondary school and college -- 3.7%). The disease was more often diagnosed among respondents who described their material standard as poor (7.7%), compared to those who described this standard as good (4.0%). Among people who considered their material standard as poor, gastric ulcer was noted more frequently than duodenal ulcer. A correlation was observed between the prevalence of peptic ulcer and such socio-economic features of Polish rural population as the level of education and material standard.