my $sth_chr = $dbh->prepare( $sql_chr ); $sth->execute; my %row; my $rv = $sth_chr->bind_columns( \( @row{ @{$sth->{NAME_lc} } } ) ); # from the DBI docs while ($sth->fetch) { # access data with $row{column_a}, $row{column_b}, etc... }