Normally I'd agree with you both but an empty set != nothing returned. In this case I need information the statement handle returns regardless of the fact there's nothing in the set.

As far as DB hit it's a precached query only using the primary key's index and I can quite confidently say that DB load isn't and won't be that much of an issue for this application. And I really mean it! Just like computers will never need more than 640k of RAM. Oohh... wait a sec. ;)

Seriously though, thanks for the suggestions. The small snippet didn't provide enough information to know otherwise.