my $query = $dbh->prepare("SELECT * FROM items ORDER BY created ASC");   

$query->execute();

while ( my $h_fields = $query->fetchrow_hashref() ) {
    next if $h_fields->{status} eq 'no';                # not needed with WHERE clause
    ...
}

##</code><code>##

$ary_ref = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref;
$ary_ref = $sth->fetch;    # alias