Propensity score matching analysis of the association between Helicobacter pylori infection and colorectal polyps: A case-control study

The association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and colorectal polyps remains controversial. This study was a retrospective observational study. A total of 1106 patients who underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy at the First People's Hospital of Fuyang from January 2021 to May 2023 were enrolled. Based on colonoscopic findings, patients were stratified into a colorectal polyp group (n = 401) and a control group (n = 705). Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied in a 1:1 ratio to balance baseline confounders. Conditional logistic regression evaluated the association between H. pylori infection and colorectal polyps. Before PSM, significant differences were observed in body mass index, age, male sex, alcohol consumption history, smoking history, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension between the colorectal polyp group and control group (P < .05). After PSM, 347 matched pairs were generated. Using the matched sample, conditional logistic regression analysis identified H. pylori infection as a risk factor for colorectal polyps (odds ratio = 1.65, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-2.33; P = .004). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis yielded an area under the curve of 0.549 (95% CI: 0.506-0.592; P = .025) for H. pylori infection in predicting polyps. The application of PSM further validates the association between H. pylori infection and colorectal polyps. H. pylori infection alone demonstrates limited predictive utility for colorectal polyp risk.