Abstract: gastric ulcer patients were investigated.It was shown that the rate of gastric ulcer in the elderly was 7.92% and in the non-elderly was 6.16%.The difference was statistically significant (P<0.01 ).The prevalences of non-abdominal pain,anoxexia,emaciation and hemorrhage in elderly cases were all much higher than those in controls.Comparision of ulcer size and site for two groups was shown much different either.Otherwise,the presence of HP infection was significantly higher in the elderly than in the controls.Based on these data,we concluded that the elderly patients with gastric ulcer had some special characters compared with non-elderly adults.HP infection may be a cause of high rate of gastric ulcer in the elderly.Therefore,it was required that some antibiotics be given to eradicate HP in treatment.

Key words: gastric ulcer, Helicobacter pylori (HP), elderly