continuous variables are expressed as mean ± SD or median
plus (interquartile) as appropriate. Categorical variables are
presented as absolute numbers and percentages. Comparisons
of continuous variables were performed by Wilcoxon’s signed
rank test for paired samples and the Mann-Whitney U test
for unpaired samples; comparisons of categorical variables
were performed by Fisher’s exact test. A two-tailed Pvalue
≤ 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. All data were
processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences,
version 20 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA).