my $address_exists_sth; sub address_exists { my ($address) = @_; $address_exists_sth ||= $dbh->prepare(' SELECT * FROM emails WHERE `email`=? ); $address_exists_sth->execute($address); my $rec = $address_exists_sth->fetch(); $address_exists_sth->finish(); return $rec && 1; } for my $address (@addresses) { if (address_exists($address)) { ... } }