Table 1.
Baseline characteristics.
| Characteristics | Frequency (n = 170) |
|---|---|
| Age, mean ± SD (years) | 64.3 ± 9.6 |
| Males | 125 (73.5) |
| Married | 136 (80.0) |
| Joint family system | 87 (51.2) |
| Low socioeconomic status | 104 (61.2) |
| No education | 53 (31.2) |
| NYHA class 3 or 4 | 67 (39.4) |
| Hypertensive | 103 (60.5) |
| Diabetic | 98 (57.6) |
| Smoking | 73 (42.9) |
| Alcoholic | 13 (7.6) |
| Previous myocardial infarction | 79 (46.4) |
| Ischemic cause of congestive heart failure | 133 (78.2) |
| Previous stroke | 24 (14.1) |
| Taking ACE inhibitors | 149 (87.6) |
| Taking beta blockers | 102 (60.0) |
| Hyperlipidemia | 92 (54.1) |
| Mean duration of CHF ± SD (years) | 4.6 ± 3.3 |
| At least 1 hospital readmission for HF in the past 2 months | 44 (25.9) |
| Unhealthy dietary habits | 52 (30.6) |
| Sedentary lifestyle | 91 (53.5) |
SD, standard deviation; NYHA, New York Heart Association; ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme.
Continuous variables are reported as mean ± SD.
Categorical variables are reported as n (%).