At the end of treatment (14 days for the consecutive-day group and 28 days for the alternate-day group), geometric mean (–SD, +SD) cumulative fractional iron absorptions were 16·3% (9·3, 28·8)in the consecutive-day group versus 21·8% (13·7, 34·6) in the alternate-day group (p=0·0013), and cumulative total iron absorption was 131·0 mg (71·4, 240·5) versus 175·3 mg (110·3, 278·5; p=0·0010).