Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study population (n = 501).
| Characteristics | Number (percent) |
| Age (years), mean + SD | 32 +14 |
| Male gender | 130 (26) |
| Age < 40 years | 381 (76) |
| Age 40-65 years | 93 (19) |
| Age > 65 years | 27 (5) |
| Village | 121 (24) |
| City < 10 000 | 28 (6) |
| City 10 000-60 000 | 101 (20) |
| City > 60 000 | 252 (50) |
| Elementary education | 8 (2) |
| Vocational education | 24 (5) |
| Secondary education | 182 (36) |
| Higher education | 287 (57) |
| People connected with health services | 225 (45) |
| People suffering from HF | 32 (6) |
| People whose relatives suffer from HF | 164 (33) |
| Arterial hypertension | 65 (13) |
| Heart arrhythmia, e.g. atrial fibrillation | 37 (7) |
| Ischaemic heart disease (coronary heart disease) | 10 (2) |
| Previous myocardial infarction | 10 (2) |
| Valve disease | 3 (1) |
| Cardiac pacemaker (or ICD, or CRT) | 11 (2) |
| Aortic aneurysm | 2 (0) |
| Deep venous thrombosis | 5 (1) |
| Stroke/TIA | 3 (1) |
HF, heart failure; ICD, implantable cardioverter defibrillator; CRT, cardiac resynchronisation therapy; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.