Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was conducted to examine the data obtained from
patient baseline characteristics. Categorical variables were compared
using the χ2 test or Fisher exact test. The Independent Samples T-test
was employed to compare data from two independent groups that exhibited
normal distribution, while the Mann-Whitney U test was utilized for two
independent groups with non-normally distributed data. Normality
analysis was performed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The results
were evaluated at a 95% confidence interval, and statistical
significance was defined as p < 0.05. All statistical analyses
were performed using the IBM SPSS-25 (Statistical Package for Social
Sciences, Chicago, Illinois, USA) software package.