Clinical characteristics and prevention of peptic ulcer disease in officers and soldiers participating in army field training

Objective To explore the epidemiological and clinical characteristics,and prevention of peptic ulcer disease （PUD） for officers and soldiers participating in army field training. Methods Clinical data about 157 officers and soldiers with PUD admitted to our hospital from June 2014 to May 2019 were collected.They were divided into training group （n=84） with average age of （28.85±6.16） years old and non-training group （n=73） with average age of （29.93±5.56） years old.The general conditions,clinical and endoscopic characteristics of the two groups were compared. Results The time from onset to treatment in the training group lagged behind that in the non-training group,and there was no evident seasonality in the two groups.As for clinical manifestations,abdominal pain was the main manifestation in the training group （80.95% vs 67.12%,χ²=3.93,P=0.047）,and gastrointestinal bleeding was the major manifestation in the non-training group （78.08% vs 44.05%,χ²=18.83,P<0.001）.There was no statistically significant difference in duodenal ulcer,gastric ulcer,gastroduodenal complex ulcer,single ulcer,ulcer diameter,and Forrest classification between the two groups （P>0.05）.The PUD endoscopic stage of cases in the training group was mostly in A1 stage （95.24% vs 84.93%,χ²=4.80,P=0.028） and they had longer hospital stay （8 d vs 7 d,Z=-2.09,P=0.036）.The positive rate of H.pylori infection in the training group was 55.95%,which was slightly higher than that in the non-training group （50.68%）. Conclusion The main clinical manifestation of PUD in the officers and soldiers who participate in the military field training is abdominal pain.They are more likely to be in stage A1 under endoscopic examination and have longer hospital stay.Targeted disease prevention （such as self-assessment,health education and management,Hp testing and psychological intervention） for officers and soldiers can reduce the incidence of PUD.