Table 5 Mean levels of Log ferritin, sTfR and CRP for iron status categories using Gale’s and Intensive grading methods

Biochemical tests		Gales’ grading method		Intensive grading method
Biochemical tests		Normal	Iron deficiency	Normal	Functional iron deficiency	Iron stores deficiency	Functional and iron stores deficiency
Log ferritin (μg/l)*	Mean (SD) [n]	2.7 (0.5) [89]	1.8 (0.7) [61]	2.8 (0.5) [34]	2.6 (0.6) [44]	1.9 (0.7) [29]	2.1 (0.8) 9
Log ferritin (μg/l)*	95% CI	2.6 to 2.8	1.6 to 2.0	2.6 to 2.96	2.4 to 2.8	1.7 to 1.2	1.6 to 2.7
sTfR (μg/ml)†	Mean (SD) [n]	11.8 (10.7) [156]	22.7 (15.9) [86]	12.5 (16.2) [56]	11.4 (6.0) [76]	21.7 (12.5) [44]	27.0 (28.3) 14
sTfR (μg/ml)†	95% CI	10.1 to 13.5	19.4 to 26.1	8.1 to 17.0	10.0 to 12.7	18.0 to 25.4	12.2 to 41.9
CRP (mg/ml)‡	Mean (SD) [n]	122.0 (6.7) [156]	71.9 (8.5) [86]	99.8 (70.1) [56]	126.7 (85.6) [77]	71.9 (74.7) [45]	68.9 (64.9) 13
CRP (mg/ml)‡	95% CI	108.7 to 135.2	55.2 to 88.7	81.5 to 118.2	107.6 to 145.8	50.0 to 93.7	33.6 to 104.2