Skip to main content

Table 2 Distribution of BLLs based on different cutoff points in various demographic groups

From: Prevalence of lead toxicity in adolescents in Kuwait

  

BLL cutoff (μg/dL)

 

N

<  5

N (%)

≥ 5 to < 10

N (%)

≥ 10 to ≤ 20

N (%)

>  20

N (%)

P-value

Overall Sample

1388

672 (48.4)

537 (38.7)

142 (10.2)

37 (2.7)

 

Governorate

Hawally

231

207 (89.6)

14 (6.1)

7 (3.0)

3 (1.3)

< 0.001

Farwaniya

230

178 (77.4)

43 (18.7)

5 (2.2)

4 (1.7)

Al-Jahra

240

108 (45.0)

115 (47.9)

16 (6.7)

1 (.4)

Al-Asima

187

40 (21.4)

95 (50.8)

49 (26.2)

3 (1.6)

Al-Ahmadi

350

92 (26.3)

203 (58.0)

43 (12.3)

12 (3.4)

Mubarak Al-Kabeer

147

47 (32.0)

64 (43.5)

22 (15.0)

14 (9.5)

Sex

Male

674

357 (53.0)

232 (34.4)

71 (10.5)

14 (2.1)

0.004

Female

714

315 (44.1)

305 (42.7)

71 (9.9)

23 (3.2)

Nationality

Kuwaiti

1064

532 (50.0)

401 (37.7)

104 (9.8)

27 (2.5)

0.19

Non-Kuwaiti

324

140 (43.2)

136 (42.0)

38 (11.7)

10 (3.1)

Age

10 to < 12 years

499

229 (44.5)

209 (40.7)

60 (11.7)

16 (3.1)

0.008

12 to < 13 years

428

222 (51.6)

174 (40.5)

27 (6.3)

7 (1.6)

13+ years

434

221 (49.8)

154 (34.7)

55 (12.4)

14 (3.2)

Weight status

Normal weight

606

279 (46.0)

238 (39.3)

73 (12.0)

16 (2.6)

0.56

Overweight

314

158 (50.3)

119 (37.9)

28 (8.9)

9 (2.9)

Obese

468

235 (50.3)

180 (38.5)

41 (8.8)

12 (2.6)

Anemia status

Anemic

108

47 (42.3)

46 (41.4)

16 (14.4)

2 (1.8)

0.31

Non-anemic

1253

625 (49.0)

490 (38.4)

126 (9.9)

35 (2.7)

Passive smoking

Yes

478

235 (49.0)

188 (39.2)

49 (10.2)

8 (1.7)

0.38

No

883

424 (47.9)

341 (38.5)

91 (10.3)

29 (3.3)

  1. BLL blood lead level. P-values are based on χ2 test comparing the distribution of students in various cutoffs of BLL in each category