To survey the practice patterns of physicians in public hospitals in Hong Kong when treating Helicobacter pylori--associated peptic ulceration, the records of all patients from 22 medical units who had new peptic ulcers that had been diagnosed endoscopically during August 1996 were examined systematically. Patient data were entered on a one-page questionnaire. Five hundred and twelve patients with peptic ulceration were studied; 173 (34%) of whom had presented with gastro-intestinal bleeding. The H pylori status had been determined in 449 (88%) patients, 280 (62%) of whom had subsequently tested positive for H pylori. The biopsy urease test or histological examination had been performed for more than 95% of patients. Of 260 patients who had tested positive for H pylori, 244 (94%) had received eradication therapy to eliminate this organism; a total of 291 patients, however, were receiving eradication therapy. The most commonly used regimen was proton pump inhibitor triple therapy (151 [52%] of 291 patients). Confirmation of the eradication of H pylori had been planned for 152 (52%) of the 291 patients, whereas ulcer-healing drugs - mainly H2-receptor antagonists - had been prescribed for 87 (30%) patients after eradication. Curing H pylori infection is therefore widely accepted in the management of peptic ulcer disease among physicians working in Hong Kong public hospitals.