The study was conducted from September 2007 through January 2008 in Bangladesh. A team of epidemiologists, two public health students, one laboratory technician, one GIS specialist, social workers from two non-governmental organizations, local political leaders, and school teachers participated in the selection of sites, lead education campaigns, and data collection for the project. The study was approved by the Human Subjects Protection Review Committee at The University of Southern Mississippi. Informed consent was obtained from parents of small children and assent was obtained from older children before enrollment.
The study was conducted from September 2007 through January 2008 in Bangladesh. A team of epidemiologists, two public health students, one laboratory technician, one GIS specialist, social workers from two non-governmental organizations, local political leaders, and school teachers participated in the selection of sites, lead education campaigns, and data collection for the project. The study was approved by the Human Subjects Protection Review Committee at The University of Southern Mississippi. Informed consent was obtained from parents of small children and assent was obtained from older children before enrollment.
The study was conducted from September 2007 through January 2008 in Bangladesh. A team of epidemiologists, two public health students, one laboratory technician, one GIS specialist, social workers from two non-governmental organizations, local political leaders, and school teachers participated in the selection of sites, lead education campaigns, and data collection for the project. The study was approved by the Human Subjects Protection Review Committee at The University of Southern Mississippi. Informed consent was obtained from parents of small children and assent was obtained from older children before enrollment.
2.1. GIS Mapping Parameters such as location of homes, schools, industries, major roads, highways and intersections, and the location of person with elevated BLLs were geocoded, and GIS maps were constructed.
2.2. Statistical Methods Data was analyzed using SPSS for Windows, version 15.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). BLLs of children were categorized into: <10 µg/dL; 10-14 µg/dL; 15-19 µg/dL; 20-44 µg/dL; 45-69 µg/dL; and ≥70 µg/dL. Mean BLLs were compared among the three study areas by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD tests. Children with normal and elevated BLLs were compared by Student’s t-test for continuous variables and by Chi-square test for categorical variables. A Mann Whitney Test was used for continuous variables with nonnormal distribution. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify which of the explanatory variables predicted elevated BLLs. Pearson’s correlation was used to assess correlation between BLLs and other variables. Distance between locations was measured by using the latitudes and longitudes of the points. A probability level of 0.05 or less was considered to be statistically significant.