Statistical Analysis
The normal distribution of continuous variables was evaluated by using visual (histograms and probability graphs) and analytical (Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests) methods. Statistical differences across the groups for continuous variables were evaluated using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Statistical differences across the groups for categorical variables were determined using Chi-square and Fisher’s Exact tests. Spearman’s correlation analysis was used for analyzing correlations between continuous variables that did not conform to a normal distribution. Statistical significance was considered at a p-value of <0.05. For the statistical analyses, the R-version 3.6.3 was used.