Prevalence of lead toxicity in adolescents in Kuwait

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Distribution of BLLs in adolescents based on demographic and nutritional variables

		N	Median (IQR)	Range Low - High	^aHigh extreme values	P-value
	Overall Sample	1388	5.10 (3.60–7.13)	1.31–75.67	58.14–75.67
Sex	Male	674	4.87 (3.78–6.49)	1.31–52.87	30.81–52.86	0.38
Sex	Female	714	5.42 (3.25–7.58)	1.71–75.67	58.14–75.67	0.38
Nationality	Kuwaiti	1064	4.9 (3.36–6.93)	1.31–75.67	58.14–75.67	< 0.001
Nationality	Non-Kuwaiti	324	5.28 (4.31–7.64)	1.93–45.6	24.41–45.6	< 0.001
Age	10 to < 12 years	499	5.29 (3.74–7.36)	2.10–75.67	56.61–75.67	0.07
	12 to < 13 years	428	4.94 (3.55–6.67)	1.31–29.30	24.41–29.30
	13+ years	434	4.97 (3.55–7.58)	1.73–72.57	40.6–72.57
BMI categories	Normal weight	606	5.27 (3.69–7.20)	1.71–75.67	30.81–75.67	0.16
	Overweight	314	4.98 (3.62–6.81)	1.89–72.57	34.81–72.57
	Obese	468	4.96 (3.48–71.30)	1.31–67.23	40.6–67.23
Anemia status	Anemic	108	5.41 (3.50–8.25)	1.91–28.02	16.08–28.02	0.18
Anemia status	Non-anemic	1253	5.05 (3.60–7.07)	1.31–75.67	58.14–75.67	0.18
Passive smoking	Yes	478	5.00 (3.55–7.14)	1.77–75.67	28.59–75.67	0.81
Passive smoking	No	883	5.11 (3.60–7.08)	1.31–72.57	45.46–72.57	0.81

P-values are based on non-parametric (Mann-Whitney or Kruskall-Wallis) tests comparing the distribution of of BLLs between groups within each demographic variable
BLL blood lead level, IRQ interquartile range; ^arange of 5 high extreme values

ISSN: 1471-2458