Abstract:Objective To analyze the risk factors and protective factors of gastric cancer in Qinghai area, and to provide evidence for primary prevention of gastric cancer in this area. Methods We enrolled 389 gastric cancer patients with pathological diagnosis hospitalized in the Department of Medical Oncology of Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital from September 2014 to June 2018. Another 389 healthy physical examinees in our hospital at the same period were selected as control group. Univariate and multivariate conditional Logistic regression analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0 statistical software. Results Univariate analysis found that occupation, educational degree, economic income, history of chronic esophagitis, history of gastritis, history of gastric ulcer, history of gastric bleeding, history of gastric polyp, history of hepatitis, history of cholecystitis/cholelithiasis, Helicobacter pylori infection, smoking, alcohol consumption, drinking tea , greasy diet, fast eating, salt-heavy diet, often eating pickled food, fried food, and ghee, regular diet, eating fresh vegetables and fruits, drinking tap water, family history of cancer, heavy pressure of work, and short-tempered personality were either risk factors or protective factors for gastric cancer (P < 0.05). Furthermore, multivariate Logistic regression analysis indicated that esophagitis [O^R = 13.692, (95% CI: 1.573, 119.162)], gastritis [O^R = 6.005, (95% CI: 1.812, 19.894)], gastric ulcer [O^R = 23.623 (95% CI: 3.595, 155.245)], cholecystitis/cholelithiasis [O^R = 6.465 (95% CI: 1.191, 35.089)], Helicobacter pylori infection [ O^R = 18.712 (95% CI: 5.041, 69.451)], smoking [ O^R = 5.174 (95% CI: 2.092, 12.797)], alcohol consumption [O^R =9.030 (95% CI: 3.725, 21.892)], greasy diet [O^R = 3.068 (95% CI: 1.338, 7.0360)], fast eating [O^R = 5.349 (95% CI: 2.412, 11.866)], salt-heavy diet [O^R = 2.825, (95% CI: 1.321, 6.041)], and often eating pickled food [O^R = 2.643 (95% CI: 1.081, 6.459)] were risk factors for gastric cancer, and that non-peasant and nonherdsman [O^R = 0.260 (95% CI: 0.112, 0.602)], high educational degree [O^R = 0.084 (95% CI: 0.033, 0.216)], high economic income [O^R =0.179 (95% CI: 0.075, 0.430)], regular diet [O^R = 0.246 (95% CI: 0.740, 0.826)], eating fresh vegetables [O^R =0.199 (95% CI: 0.087, 0.452)] and drinking tap water [O^R = 0.042 (95% CI: 0.009, 0.185)] were protective factors for gastric cancer. Conclusions The high incidence of gastric cancer in Qinghai area may be related to poor living and eating habits and history of chronic gastropathy. It is recommended to develop scientific preventive measures for intervention of the relevant factors.