Research Article Living Conditions and Helicobacter pylori in Adults Odete Amaral, 1 Isabel Fernandes, 1 Nélio Veiga, 2,3 Carlos Pereira, 1 Claudia Chaves, 1 Paula Nelas, 1 and Daniel Silva 1 1 CI&DETS, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal 2 Health Sciences Institute, Universidade Cat´ olica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal 3 Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), Universidade Cat´ olica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal Correspondence should be addressed to N´ elio Veiga; nelioveiga@gmail.com Received 6 July 2017; Revised 3 September 2017; Accepted 12 September 2017; Published 12 October 2017 Academic Editor: Dimitrios P. Bogdanos Copyright © 2017 Odete Amaral et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Infection by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is transmissible and is considered a public health issue which afects people of all ages. Te objective of this study was to identify factors (lifestyles, dietary factors, and hygiene conditions) related to the prevalence of H. pylori infection. Methods. We carried out an observational cross-sectional study with a community sample of adults from the municipalities of Viseu and S´ at˜ ao, Portugal. Te fnal sample resulted in 166 adults. Te data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire with questions regarding sociodemographic aspects and lifestyles. H. pylori infection was identifed using the 13C-urea breath test. Results. No association was found between the prevalence of H. pylori infection and the use of tobacco, alcohol, or cofee or dietary factors. Te prevalence of H. pylori infection was higher in adults who reported higher consumption of fried food and lower consumption of vegetables and fruit. H. pylori infection was signifcant for the variables of lower frequency of handwashing before going to the bathroom ( = 0.02) and well water consumption ( = 0.05). Conclusion.A signifcant association was found for H. pylori infection with the lower frequency of handwashing before going to the bathroom and the consumption of well water. 1. Introduction H. pylori is considered to be a chronic and transmissible infection, even though the exact chain of transmission is not completely known. It is believed that human beings are practically the only natural reservoir of H. pylori [1]. Research suggests that contact with the bacterium occurs predomi- nantly during childhood and between direct family members (intrafamilial transmission) [2, 3]. Intrafamilial transmission appears to be the main route for the acquisition of this infection, especially among mothers and children and among siblings, supporting the hypothesis that close contact is cru- cial for the transmission of the infection [4, 5]. In developing countries, studies report that the hygiene conditions and the surrounding environment infuence the transmission of H. pylori [6, 7]. Person-to-person transmission through oral-to- oral or fecal-to-oral routes is considered the most probable, and this pathogen can be transmitted orally through fecal matter by the ingestion of water contaminated with waste [1]. Risk factors related to H. pylori infection include poor socioeconomic status, poor hygiene, inadequate sanitation conditions, overcrowding, consumption of contaminated water and food, and bacterial infection within the household [1, 8]. Te improvement of hygiene standards, mainly due to the implementation of basic sanitation, a decrease in the number of close contacts, and, possibly, an increase in the consumption of antibiotics, contributed to a gradual variation in the frequency of infection in the diferent phases of the life cycle. In other words, this infection now has a higher incidence in the later stages of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood [4, 9]. Terefore, the identifcation of the determinants of H. pylori infection in diferent phases of the life cycle is essential to understand its increasing incidence in certain countries and populations, development, and health consequences in the human body. A study from Brazil reported an increase in H. pylori infection associated with a higher number of siblings, school- ing since nursery school, and housing with poor conditions and no paved roads, which can be considered important indicators associated with poor living conditions [10]. Poor Hindawi BioMed Research International Volume 2017, Article ID 9082716, 5 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/9082716