Table 3. Baseline characteristics of patients in the adherence and nonadherence groups.
| Adherence | Nonadherence | p -Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| n | 234 | 805 | |
| Male (%) | 34 | 40 | 0.15 |
| Age (y) | 75.4 ± 6.8 | 75.7 ± 7.0 | 0.46 |
| Current smoker (%) | 4.3 | 4.0 | 0.83 |
| Hypertension (%) | 87 | 86 | 0.78 |
| Diabetes (%) | 24 | 21 | 0.46 |
| Hyperlipidemia (%) | 41 | 40 | 0.90 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 132.3 ± 12.1 | 131.9 ± 15.3 | 0.88 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 74.4 ± 9.0 | 74.3 ± 10.3 | 0.44 |
| Pulse (bpm) | 74.7 ± 12.1 | 73.8 ± 13.8 | 0.47 |
| Body weight (kg) | 56.9 ± 10.0 | 58.1 ± 11.2 | 0.13 |
| Laboratory data | |||
| White blood cell (1,000/mm 3 ) | 5.8 ± 1.4 | 5.8 ± 1.8 | 0.54 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 13.2 ± 1.4 | 13.2 ± 1.5 | 0.57 |
| Total protein (g/dL) | 7.1 ± 0.4 | 7.2 ± 0.5 | 0.29 |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L) | 24.2 ± 8.6 | 25.5 ± 10.3 | 0.67 |
| Alanine transaminase (IU/L) | 22.6 ± 14.0 | 22.4 ± 13.7 | 0.74 |
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | 0.7 ± 0.2 | 0.7 ± 0.2 | 0.20 |
| Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL) | 15.9 ± 3.8 | 16.7 ± 4.8 | 0.19 |
| Low-density lipoprotein (mg/dL) | 111.7 ± 28.7 | 107.7 ± 26.1 | 0.04 |
| High-density lipoprotein (mg/dL) | 60.6 ± 17.4 | 60.4 ± 17.7 | 0.96 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 123.7 ± 69.5 | 123.6 ± 81.1 | 0.67 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 184.7 ± 31.6 | 183.0 ± 37.1 | 0.43 |
| Hemoglobin A1c | 5.9 ± 0.6 | 6.0 ± 0.7 | 0.40 |
| Na (mEq/L) | 142.7 ± 2.5 | 142.3 ± 2.7 | 0.04 |
| K (mEq/L) | 4.4 ± 0.4 | 4.4 ± 0.5 | 0.52 |
| B-type natriuretic peptide (pg/mL) | 84.1 ± 122.1 | 71.8 ± 101.0 | 0.55 |
| Medications | |||
| Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (%) | 7.2 | 11.3 | 0.07 |
| Angiotensin-receptor blocker (%) | 48.3 | 50.1 | 0.61 |
| Beta-blocker (%) | 4.7 | 5.5 | 0.65 |
| Calcium blocker (%) | 66.7 | 65.7 | 0.79 |
| Aldosterone antagonist (%) | 1.7 | 2.9 | 0.33 |
| Statin (%) | 40.1 | 39.6 | 0.88 |
| Acetylsalicylic acid (%) | 4.3 | 9.4 | 0.01 |
| Warfarin (%) | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.29 |
| Direct oral anticoagulant (%) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 0.59 |
| Loop diuretic (%) | 3.0 | 3.2 | 0.86 |
Note: Patients of general practitioners not following specialist's recommendations and all control group patients were included in the nonadherence group. Continuous variables are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation.