Table 2. Participant Characteristics.
| CHF group | Control group | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | χ 2 | ||||
| Proportion of men (%) | 20 | 65.0 | 27 | 71.0 | 0.34 | |||
| Cardiac risk factors (%) | ||||||||
| Hypercholesterolemia | 13 | 41.9% | 15 | 39.5% | 0.04 | |||
| Hypertension | 21 | 67.7% | 18 | 47.4% | 2.88 | |||
| Smoking | 13 | 41.9% | 8 | 21.1% | 3.52 | |||
| Diabetes | 7 | 22.6% | 4 | 10.5% | 1.85 | |||
| Obesity | 5 | 16.1% | 2 | 5.3% | 2.21 | |||
| Demographic (M) | M | SD | M | SD | t | d | ||
| Age (years) | 31 | 69.77 | 11.23 | 38 | 67.13 | 7.53 | 1.12 | 0.28 |
| Education (years) | 31 | 11.65 | 3.74 | 38 | 13.07 | 3.57 | 1.61 | 0.39 |
| Estimated IQ | 30 | 112.54 | 5.89 | 38 | 114.33 | 6.38 | 1.19 | 0.29 |
| Global cognition and mental health | ||||||||
| Global cognition (ACE-R) | 31 | 91.00 | 4.89 | 38 | 92.08 | 4.55 | 0.95 | 0.23 |
| Anxiety (HADS) | 31 | 6.03 | 3.73 | 38 | 8.29 | 4.51 | 2.23* | 0.55 |
| Depression (HADS) | 31 | 5.19 | 2.91 | 38 | 5.55 | 3.29 | 0.48 | 0.12 |
| Executive functions | ||||||||
| Cognitive flexibility (TMT) | 27 | 74.83 | 35.17 | 37 | 49.19 | 31.35 | 3.07** | 0.77 |
| Inhibition (Hayling) | 28 | 2.89 | 2.01 | 35 | 5.57 | 1.61 | 5.88*** | 1.47 |
| Initiation (Verbal fluency) | 31 | 29.94 | 6.51 | 38 | 32.21 | 7.85 | 1.29 | 0.31 |
| Verbal memory (RAVLT) | ||||||||
| Immediate recall | 26 | 41.58 | 8.89 | 38 | 45.00 | 8.96 | 1.51 | 0.38 |
| Delayed recall | 24 | 8.83 | 2.51 | 38 | 9.13 | 2.84 | 0.42 | 0.11 |
d = Cohen’s d index of effect size. Effect sizes: small = 0.2; medium = 0.5; large = 0.8 [48].
* p < .05.
** p < .01.
*** p < .001.
Notes. ACE-R = Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination—Revised; HADS = Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale; RAVLT = Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test; TMT = Trail Making Test (B minus A).