Serum levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit and ferritin, mean corpuscular volume and transferrin saturation in both groups.

Table 2: Serum levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit and ferritin, mean corpuscular volume and transferrin saturation in both groups.

	Group I (n = 367)	Group II (n = 149)	p-value
Pre-treatment hemoglobin (g/dl)	9.33 ± 1.35	8.98 ± 1.28	0.010^*
Pre-treatment hematocrit (%)	31.13 ± 3.85	30.25 ± 3.56	0.022^*
Pre-treatment MCV (fl)	73.78 ± 10.10	71.93 ± 9.01	*0.064*
Pre-treatment ferritin (ng/mL)	4.50 (1.20-25.10)	4.00 (1.00-25.00)	0.016^*
Pre-treatment transferrin saturation (%)	7.00 (1.00-18.00)	6.00 (1.00-15.00)	0.002^*
Post-treatment hemoglobin (g/dl)	11.97 ± 1.36	12.31 ± 1.35	0.016^*
Post-treatment hematocrit (%)	38.2 ± 4.01	39.2 ± 4.07	0.016^*
Post-treatment MCV (fl)	82.62 ± 7.06	83.7 ± 6.54	*0.125*
Post-treatment ferritin (ng/mL)	94.55 (24.30-69.90)	115.40 (26.70-42.00)	**0.024^{^}***
Post-treatment transferrin saturation (%)	22.50 (5.00-60.0)	24.00 (5.00-59.00)	0.163
Time for evaluation of treatment response	4.00 (3.00-6.00)	4.00 (3.00-6.00)	0.065

(Hint: Data expressed as mean ± SD or median (min-max); ^*: statistically significant at p < 0.05); (MCV: mean corpuscular volume).