Paired comparisons between each of the ex-sniffer, chronic sniffer, and encephalopathic sniffer groups and the non-sniffer group for demographic, behavioural, and biochemical data
| Non-sniffer (n = 34) | Ex-sniffer (n = 24) | Chronic sniffer (n = 22) | Encephalopathic sniffer (n = 16) | F statistic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unless otherwise stated, data are presented as group mean (SD). | |||||
| *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; comparisons made between non-sniffer group and all other groups, except variables flagged with superscript a, where comparisons are with the chronic sniffer group. | |||||
| Age (years) | 20.0 (4.0) | 22.7 (5.4) | 20.8 (5.4) | 18.7 (3.9) | 7.0 |
| Age range (years) | 14 to 32 | 15 to 35 | 13 to 31 | 13 to 27 | |
| Age petrol sniffing began (years)a | – | 13.1 (3.0) | 12.5 (3.3) | 12.7 (3.4) | 0.3 |
| Volume/week (No of 373 ml cans)a | – | 4.1 (3.7) | 3.2 (1.8) | 6.6 (2.8)*** | 4.2 |
| Duration sniffing (years)a | – | 6.0 (4.7) | 7.4 (3.9) | 10.6 (5.7) | 2.9 |
| Blood lead (μmol/l) | 0.3 (0.1) | 1.2 (0.6)*** | 1.6 (0.7)*** | 2.3 (1.1)*** | 44.2 |
| Detectible toluene (%) | 0 | 0 | 50.0* | 66.7* | |
| Blood toluene (μmol/l)a | – | – | 0.10 (0.16) | 0.27 (0.16)** | 6.0 |
| Detectible benzene (%) | 0 | 0 | 36.4 | 42.9 | |
| Blood benzene (μmol/l)a | – | – | 0.03 (0.04) | 0.08 (0.08)* | 3.2 |