Multivariable Discriminant Analysis for the Differential Diagnosis of Microcytic Anemia

Table 2

Standardized canonical coefficients obtained from the linear discriminant analysis.

	Classification type I				Classification type II
	First function		Second function		First function
	Standardized coefficient	Relative importance	Standardized coefficient	Relative importance	Standardized coefficient	Relative importance
RBC	0.902	−0.532*	5.481	0.154	1.778	0.537*
Hb	−1.362	−0.332	−5.723	−0.410*	−2.225	0.284
MCV	1.607	0.609	0.481	−0.636*	1.814	−0.361*
MCH	−0.257	0.292	2.408	−0.788*	0.152	−0.529*
RDW	0.461	0.267	0.064	0.268	0.441	0.237
Proportion of trace (%)	91.26		8.59		100

RBC: Red Blood Cells; Hb: hemoglobin; MCV: mean cell volume; MCH: mean cell hemoglobin; RDW: RBC distribution width.
First function: first linear discrimination function. Second function: second discrimination function. Classification type I: disease groups categorized into four diseases: mixed, β-thalassemia, α-thalassemia, and IDA. Classification type II: targeted diseases as genetic anemia (mixed, β- and α-thalassemia) and acquired anemia.
Standardized coefficient: standardized coefficient obtained from the linear discriminant analysis of each blood marker for the considered functions.
Relative importance: correlations of each variable with each discriminant functions.
∗A correlation higher than 0.40 is considered significant.
Proportion of trace (%): proportion of variability of the outcome explained by the considered independent variables.