Table 2.

Values for area under ROC curves and for optimum sensitivity and specificity for red cell indices for iron depletion.

	r Coefficient vs. ferritin	Area under ROC curve	Optimal cut off sensitivity (%)	Optimal cut off specificity (%)
Hb	0.12*	0.59	77.3	41.9
MCV	0.20*	0.59	47.3	71.7
MCH	0.22*	0.60	57.8	59.2
MCHC	0.15*	0.58	60.9	55.6

ROC: receiver operating characteristic; Hb: haemoglobin; MCV: mean cell volume; MCH: mean cell haemoglobin; MCHC: mean cell haemoglobin concentration.

*p < 0.001.