Table 3.

Comparison between the two drugs at the baseline and the end of the study.

	Mean rank	P-value *
Hb at baseline (first month)
Aranesp, N = 67	68.4	0.156
Eprex, N = 60	59.1
Hb at the end of the study period (sixth month)
Aranesp, N = 67	80.6	< 0.001
Eprex, N = 60	45.4

^*P-values were obtained by the Mann-Whitney U test.