Table 1.

Characteristics of women receiving iron or placebo for unexplained fatigue in the absence of anaemia. Values are means (standard deviations)

	Iron group (n=71)	Placebo group (n=65)
Age (years)	36.1 (9.9)	34.6 (11.5)
Serum ferritin concentration (μg/l)	30.4 (31)	29.2 (28)
Haemoglobin concentration (g/l)	135.4 (9.5)	136.5 (10.4)
Fatigue scale (1-10 points) *	6.4 (1.6)	6.5 (1.5)
Multi-item fatigue questionnaire †	18.9 (8.9)	20.7 (8.1)
Depressive mood †	8.7 (7.5)	8.2 (6.5)
Anxiety †	7.8 (6.8)	7.5 (6.5)

^*Visual analogue scale.

^†Score of 0 to 40 points.