Table 1.
Descriptive characteristic of the study populations in arsenic-endemic and non-endemic areas
| Parameters | Non-endemic | Arsenic-endemic | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total subjects (n) | 108 | 265 | ||
| Sex (n) | Male | 53 | 145 | |
| Female | 55 | 120 | ||
| Age (years)a | 35.84 ± 11.17 | 38.32 ± 11.79 | 0.062* | |
| Occupation [n, (%)] | Male | 0.259† | ||
| Farmers | 37 (69.81) | 126 (86.90) | ||
| Business | 0 | 6 (4.14) | ||
| Students | 13 (24.53) | 4 (2.76) | ||
| Tailors | 0 | 2 (1.38) | ||
| +Others | 3 (5.66) | 7 (4.83) | ||
| Female | ||||
| Housewives | 53 (96.36) | 114 (95.00) | ||
| Farm workers | 2 (3.64) | 2 (1.67) | ||
| Students | 0 | 3 (2.50) | ||
| ‡Others | 0 | 1 (0.83) | ||
| Education [n, (%)] | No formal education | 62 (57.41) | 143 (53.96) | 0.397† |
| Primary | 39 (36.11) | 93 (35.09) | ||
| Secondary | 5(4.63) | 26 (9.81) | ||
| Higher | 1 (1.85) | 3 (1.32) | ||
| Income/month (US$)a | 22.95 ± 5.54 | 24.33 ± 8.86 | 0.071* | |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)a | 110.1 ± 14.5 | 118.26 ± 15.21 | <0.001* | |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)a | 69.81 ± 9.57 | 76.70 ± 9.60 | <0.001* | |
| Hypertension [n, (%)] | Yes | 2 (1.85) | 35 (13.20) | <0.01† |
| No | 106 (98.15) | 230 (86.80) | ||
| Skin symptom [n, (%)] | (+) symptom | 0 | 184 (69.43) | <0.001† |
| (−) symptom | 108 (100) | 81 (30.57) | ||
| Smoking in male [n, (%)] | Yes | 20 (37.74) | 59 (40.69) | 0.707† |
| No | 33(62.26) | 86 (59.31) | ||
| Alcohol intake | - | - | - | |
| BMI (kg/m2)a | 21.13 ± 2.78 | 20.53 ± 3.15 | 0.090* | |
| Distribution of drinking water As (μg/L) | Range (min-max) | 0.03–13.17 | 0.11–546 | |
| 25th percentile | 0.04 | 36.1 | ||
| 50th percentile | 1.18 | 133.8 | ||
| 75th percentile | 2.98 | 263 | ||
| 90th percentile | 5.32 | 400 | ||
| Drinking water As (μg/L)b | 0.56 ± 7.77 | 76.10 ± 5.91 | <0.001* | |
| Hair As (μg/g)b | 0.23 ± 2.36 | 2.85 ± 2.97 | <0.001* | |
| Nail As (μg/g)b | 0.80 ± 2.64 | 6.60 ± 2.49 | <0.001* | |
Abbreviations: As arsenic. BMI was calculated as body weight (Kg) divided by height squared (m2). aMean ± SD. bGeometric Mean (GSD). *Independent sample t-test and †chi-square test were used to test for sample differences in continuous and categorical variables, respectively. +Others included village doctor, security guard, banker and worker. ‡Others included farmer