Table 2.
Biochemical indicators and presence of inflammation by study groupsa
| Characteristic | n b | CG (n = 395) | IG (n = 399) | P c | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median, n | IQR, % | Median, n | IQR, % | |||
| Biochemical indicators | ||||||
| Retinol (μmol/L) | 794 | 1.30 | 0.89, 1.80 | 1.54 | 1.20, 2.00 | <.001 |
| Vitamin A deficiencyd | 794 | 64 | 16.2 | 30 | 7.5 | <.001 |
| Anemiae | 794 | 88 | 22.3 | 55 | 13.8 | .002 |
| Iron deficiencyf | 747 | 142 | 39.0 | 114 | 29.8 | .008 |
| Beta‐carotene (μmol/L) | 786 | 0.27 | 0.14, 0.50 | 0.36 | 0.22, 0.60 | <.001 |
| Presence of inflammationg | .008 | |||||
| Reference | 502 | 242 | 65.0 | 260 | 75.1 | |
| Incubation | 10 | 7 | 1.9 | 3 | 0.9 | |
| Acute | 76 | 51 | 13.7 | 25 | 7.2 | |
| Chronic | 130 | 72 | 19.4 | 58 | 16.8 | |
CG = control group; IG = intervention group; IQR = interquartile range.
a
Values are numbers and percentages or median and IQR.
b
Totals differ from the total number of study children due to missing values.
c
Pearson's chi‐square test or Mann–Whitney test.
d
Defined as serum retinol <0.70 μmol/L.
e
Defined as hemoglobin <110.0 g/L.
f
Defined as plasma ferritin <12.0 ug/L or sTfR >8.3 mg/L (excluding CRP > 10.0 mg/L).
g
Reference (CRP ≤ 5 mg/L and AGP ≤ 1 g/L); incubation (CRP > 5 mg/L and AGP ≤ 1 g/L); acute (CRP > 5 mg/L and AGP > 1 g/L); and chronic (CRP ≤ 5 mg/L and AGP > 1 g/L). CRP, C‐reactive protein; AGP, α‐1‐acid glycoprotein.