Increased risk of sleep-related movement disorder in patients with Helicobacter pylori infection: A nationwide population-based study

Background and purposeEvidence increasingly suggests that Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI) is associated with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the relationship between HPI and sleep-related movement disorders (SRMD) remains unknown. This nationwide population-based study tried to demonstrate whether patients with HPI have a higher risk of developing SRMD in a general adult population.MethodsThe study cohort enrolled 9,393 patients who were initially diagnosed with HPI between 2000 and 2013. Notably, 37,572 age- and sex-matched controls without prior HPI were selected as the reference. A Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed for multivariate adjustment.ResultsPatients with HPI had a higher risk of developing SRMD (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 2.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26–3.82, p < 0.01). Patients with HPI aged ≥65 years exhibited the highest risk (HR = 3.01, 95% CI = 1.90–5.30, p < 0.001), followed by patients aged 45–64 years (HR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.26–2.90, p