Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of the study population
| All pts n = 925 | Group 8 n = 475 | Group 15 n = 450 | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male gender, n (%) | 811 (87.7%) | 409 (86.1%) | 402 (89.3%) | 0.135 |
| Age, average (standard deviation) | 63.7 (11.6) | 64.0 (10.9) | 63.4 (12.2) | 0.412 |
| Secondary prevention | 544 (58.8%) | 272 (57.3%) | 272 (60.4%) | 0.326 |
| CAD, n (%) | 691 (74.7%) | 364 (76.6%) | 327 (72.7%) | 0.166 |
| HF, n (%) | 542 (58.6%) | 278 (58.6%) | 264 (58.9%) | 0.932 |
| Ejection fraction (%), average (SD) | 33.9 (12.1) | 33.7 (11.8) | 34.2 (12.4) | 0.532b |
| NYHA class, n (%) | 0.676 | |||
| I | 49 (9.4%) | 30 (11.2%) | 19 (7.6%) | |
| II | 309 (59.4%) | 154 (57.2%) | 155 (61.3%) | |
| III | 158 (30.4%) | 83 (30.9%) | 75 (29.9%) | |
| IV | 4 (0.8%) | 2 (0.7%) | 2 (0.8%) | |
| LBBB, n (%) | 163 (17.6%) | 92 (19.5%) | 71 (15.8%) | 0.144 |
| ACE inhibitors, n (%)a | 667 (74.9%) | 357 (78.5%) | 310 (71.3%) | 0.013 |
| Amiodarone, n (%)a | 238 (26.7%) | 123 (27.0%) | 115 (26.4%) | 0.841 |
| ARB II, n (%)a | 66 (7.4%) | 29 (6.4%) | 37 (8.5%) | 0.225 |
| Beta-blockers, n (%)a | 558 (62.7%) | 276 (60.7%) | 282 (64.8%) | 0.199 |
| Digitalis, n (%)a | 95 (10.7%) | 56 (12.3%) | 39 (9.0%) | 0.107 |
| Diuretics, n (%)a | 532 (59.8%) | 277 (60.9%) | 255 (58.6%) | 0.492 |
| Other AAD, n (%)a | 17 (1.9%) | 4 (0.9%) | 13 (3.0%) | 0.022 |
| Spironolactone, n (%)a | 279 (31.3%) | 152 (33.4%) | 127 (29.2%) | 0.176 |
AAD anti arrhythmic drug, CAD coronary artery disease, HF heart failure, LBBB left bundle branch block
aFisher’s exact test
bMann-Whitney non parametric test for independent groups