title: Demographic risk factors associated with elevated lead levels in Texas children covered by Medicaid.
abstract: This is the first large population-based study of demographic risk factors for elevated lead in Texas children. It summarizes data on 92,900 children covered by Medicaid screened for blood lead during the first 6 months of 1993 in Texas. The highest percentage of elevated lead levels (14.3%) was in children 25-36 months of age, with slightly lower percentages in those younger (13% of 19-24 months) and older (12% of 37-48 months) with blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms/dl. The group with the highest percentage of elevated blood lead levels was 2-4-year-old African American males (17.3%) making this subgroup 3.5 times higher than the group with the lowest percentage-white girls over age 4 (4.8%). Males had higher blood lead levels for all ages and ethnic groups. Three principal risk factors were found for excessive blood lead in children: ethnicity, gender, and age; this is consistent with the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) and Phase I of the NHANES III results demonstrating ethnicity and income association with lead in children in the United States.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center 77225, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kurtin
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Therrell
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D008484:Medicaid; D012307:Risk Factors; D013781:Texas; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D007854:Lead