Nasser Shirian’s research while affiliated with Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences and other places

... As stated in the statistical analysis section of the article, they used covariance (ANCOVA) or Mann-Whitney U test to assess statistical changes in concentrations of sPostn in 1 year. Similar to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the oneway ANCOVA is used to evaluate significant differences in numerical dependent variable between two or more independent (unrelated) groups [2][3][4][5]. Furthermore, Mann-Whitney U test is used to determine whether there are any significant differences in numerical dependent variables with nonnormal distribution between two independent (unrelated) groups [2][3][4][5]. ...

Reference:

Circulating periostin levels increase in association with bone density loss and healing progression during the early phase of hip fracture in Chinese older women