Statistical analysis
Categorical data are described as the number of cases and percentages. Fisher’s exact test was used in the presence of a sample size of less than 40. Data were examined for normality using the Shapiro–Wilk test. Normally distributed data were analysed with the mean ± standard deviation, the baseline comparison between the three groups was done using an ANOVA test and a two independent sample t-test was used to evaluate the differences between the two groups. For non-normally distributed data, the Mann–Whitney U test was used for two-group analyses. Data are presented as median (Q1, Q3). Statistical significance was set at 