Table 3.
Results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) performed on the hair trace elements data.
| Element | ANCOVA a | Pairwise Comparisons b (p-Value) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F(3, 68) | p-Value | partial η2 | DEMvsHS | DEMvsSMC | DEMvsMCI | HSvsSMC | HSvsMCI | SMCvsMCI | |
| Al | 0.597 | 0.620 | 0.03 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Mn | 1.13 | 0.344 | 0.05 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Fe | 0.982 | 0.407 | 0.05 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Cu | 0.455 | 0.715 | 0.22 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Zn | 2.477 | 0.07 | 0.11 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hg | 4.411 | 0.007 * | 0.18 | 0.005 * | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. | n.s. |
| Pb | 2.757 | 0.500 | 0.02 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
a Covariates: age, education level, mineral-containing food supplements use, residence time in the study area, home-grown foodstuff consumption and type of drinking water. b Post hoc analysis using Bonferroni method; N/A: not applicable; n.s.: not significant; * (p < 0.01).