Background: This study evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of combining pepsinogen (PG I/II), gastrin-17 (G-17), and 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT) for chronic gastritis in children using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Methods: Between June 2018 and August 2023, 65 children from Jun'an Branch Hospital of Shunde Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, diagnosed with chronic gastritis (chronic gastritis group), and 50 healthy children (control group) participated in this study. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) determined serum levels of PG I, PG II, and G-17. Furthermore, 13C-UBT was performed for Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection detection. Both groups underwent serological tests and gastroscopy. Results: Combined detection showed significantly higher positive rates than individual PG I/II or G-17 tests (P < 0.05), though comparable to 13C-UBT alone. Chronic gastritis patients exhibited elevated PG I, PG II, and G-17 levels versus controls (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis identified PG I (OR = 2.982, P = 0.011), G-17 (OR = 3.527, P = 0.0013), and 13C-UBT positivity (OR = 4.193, P = 0.002) as significant predictors. ROC analysis revealed AUCs of 0.673 (PG I), 0.792 (G-17), 0.814 (13C-UBT), and 0.887 (combined), with sensitivity ≥89% and specificity >76%. Conclusion: Serum PG I, G-17 detection, and 13C-UBT provided considerable predictive accuracy for chronic gastritis in children, and combination testing further improved diagnostic accuracy in this population.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

MR-44-24-003621

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

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Ethics Committee Name: Medical Ethics Committee of Jun'an Branch Hospital of Shunde Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine(Foshan Shunde Jun'an Hospital) Approval Number: KT-202306 Approval Date: 8 October 2023 Validity Period: 8 October 2023 to 7 October 2024 Contact Person: He Zhaopei Contact Information: Tel +86-757-25382227 Address: No. 7 Bai'an Road, Foshan, Guangdong 528329, China Governance Framework: Operates under China's Ethical Review Measures for Biomedical Research Involving Humans (2016), WMA Declaration of Helsinki, and CIOMS International Ethical Guidelines.anonymized.historical data without individual patient identifiers. Informed consent was waived in accordance with national regulations on retrospective studies. This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration No. MR-44-24-003621).

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All data in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.