Statistical analyses
REGRESSION
Normally distributed data are shown as means ± standard deviation (SD), whereas skewed distributions are presented as medians with interquartile ranges. Categorical data are presented as percentages. Differences between groups at baseline were assessed using a Student’s T-test for comparing means, a Mann–Whitney-U test for skewed data or a Chi-square test for categorical variables. Associations between parameters at baseline were analyzed with a Spearman’s rank correlation test. A multiple linear regression model was applied to assess the individual impact of various baseline parameters on serum hepcidin-25 concentrations and the H/F ratios. To test if there was a difference within the groups between baseline and week 12 a Wilcoxon rank sum test was utilized. For differences between groups in change from baseline to week 12, a Mann–Whitney-U test was applied. A 