A low cost rapid urease test to detect Helicobacter pylori infection in resource limited settings

The aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of a modified one minute rapid urease test (one day rapid urease test) as a low cost H. pylori detection method. A sample of 205 patients clinically suspected of having H. pylori infection was tested. One day rapid urease test and histology based H. pylori tests (the gold standard) were performed on endoscopic antral biopsies. There were 6 true positives, 191 true negatives, 8 false positives and zero false negatives. The sensitivity, specificity and positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of the test were 100%, 96%, 42.9%, and 100% respectively. The cost per patient was 0.3US$. High sensitivity, specificity and NPV, low cost and simplicity of method were the advantages of the test and the main limitation was low PPV. Hence, one day rapid urease test can be considered as a suitable low cost method to detect H. pylori infection in resource limited settings.