Table 1.
Demographics and clinical characteristics of the study population
| N | 130 | |
|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||
| Age, years | 60 ± 13 | |
| Gender, male | 88 (67.5%) | |
| Ethnicity | ||
| Caucasian | 113 (87%) | |
| African-descendent | 9 (7%) | |
| Other | 8 (6%) | |
| Education | ||
| Functionally illiterate | 5 (4%) | |
| Elementary, non-graduated | 79 (61%) | |
| Elementary, graduated | 26 (20%) | |
| High school, non-graduated | 6 (5%) | |
| High school, graduated | 14 (11%) | |
| Marital status | ||
| Single | 31 (24%) | |
| Married | 78 (60%) | |
| Divorced | 15 (11.5%) | |
| Widowed | 6 (4.5%) | |
| Heart failure history | ||
| Etiology | ||
| Ischemic | 42 (32.5%) | |
| Idiopathic | 28 (21.5%) | |
| Hypertensive | 29 (22.5%) | |
| Valvular | 14 (10%) | |
| Alcoholic | 10 (7.5%) | |
| Other | 7 (5%) | |
| Ejection fraction, % | 36 ± 13 | |
| Functional class, NYHA | ||
| I-II | 97 (74.5%) | |
| III-IV | 33 (25.5%) | |
| Cardiac devices (ICD or CRT-D) | 23 (18%) | |
| Hospital admissions in the previous year | ||
| None | 82 (63%) | |
| One | 26 (20%) | |
| More than one | 22 (17%) | |
| Comorbidities | ||
| Hypertension | 75 (57.5%) | |
| Dyslipidemia | 64 (49%) | |
| Previous myocardial infarction | 39 (30%) | |
| Previous cardiac surgery | 24 (18.5%) | |
| Diabetes | 50 (38.5%) | |
| COPD | 10 (7.5%) | |
| Chronic kidney impairment | 52 (40%) | |
| Previous stroke | 20 (15.5%) | |
| Collagen tissue disease | 11 (9%) | |
| Smoking, past or present | 66 (50.5%) | |
| Alcoholism, past or present | 29 (22.5%) | |
| Neoplasia | 18 (14%) | |
NYHA: New York Heart Association; ICD: implantable cardiac defibrillator; CRT-D: cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Data expressed as mean ± SD and number (percentage). Ejection fraction assessed by bi-dimensional echocardiography (Simpson method).