Table 1 Baseline characteristic of the 3 groups^a

 White race, n (%)

246/285 (86.32)

266/338 (78.70)*

865/1135 (76.21)*

0.001

 KCCQ overall score

75.00 (56.25, 86.98)

62.24 (42.71, 76.56)*

54.69 (35.68, 73.18)*#

<0.001

 Previous HF hospitalization within 12 months, n (%)

111/284 (39.08)

200/338 (59.17)*

724/1135 (63.79)*

<0.001

 DM, n (%)

*

*#

<0.001

  DM without insulin usage

34/284 (11.97)

80/338 (23.67)

294/1135 (25.90)

  DM with insulin usage

5/284 (1.76)

59/338 (17.46)

314/1135 (27.67)

 DBP, mmHg

75 (68, 80)

66 (59, 74)*

71 (62, 80)*#

<0.001

 Diuretic, n (%)

219/285 (76.84)

301/338 (89.05)*

1045/1134 (92.15)*

<0.001

 Beta-blocker, n (%)

214/285 (75.09)

273/338 (80.77)

893/1134 (78.75)

0.22

 GFR, ml/min*1.73m²

68.46 (56.56, 80.71)

55.28 (44.09, 69.79)*

60.86 (48.79, 76.95)*#

<0.001

 Hb, g/dL

14.09±1.26

11.86±1.32*

12.84±1.65*#

<0.001

 Alb, mg/L

4.1 (3.9, 4.4)

3.8 (3.5, 4)*

3.9 (3.6, 4.2)*#

<0.001

 Age, years

76 (68, 81)

78 (72, 83)*

69 (62, 77)*#

<0.001

 Male, n (%)

163/285 (57.19)

160/338 (47.34)*

557/1135 (49.07)*

0.03

 Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, n (%)

68/285 (23.86)

58/338 (17.16)

189/1135 (16.65)*

0.02

 Country, n (%)

*

*#

<0.001

  USA

169/285 (59.30)

202/338 (59.76)

776/1135 (68.37)

  Canada

45/285 (15.79)

89/338 (26.33)

192/1135 (16.92)

  Brazil

41/285 (14.39)

33/338 (9.76)

88/1135 (7.75)

  Argentina

30/285 (30.53)

14/338 (4.14)

79/1135 (6.96)

 Randomized spironolactone treatment

142/285 (49.82)

177/338 (52.37)

555/1135 (48.90)

0.534

 NYHA III/IV, n (%)

68/285 (23.86)

105/338 (31.07)

445/1132 (39.31)*#

<0.001

 Nocturnal paroxysmal dyspnea, n (%)

22/282 (7.80)

40/333 (12.01)

191/1110 (17.21)*

<0.001

 Orthopnea, n (%)

50/282 (17.73)

104/337 (30.86)*

392/1119 (35.03)*

<0.001

 Rales, n (%)

49/280 (17.50)

62/333 (18.62)

180/1110 (16.22)

0.57

 JVP≥10 cmH₂O, n (%)

46/271 (16.97)

64/317 (20.19)

192/1066 (18.01)

0.57

 Edema, n (%)

179/284 (63.03)

209/338 (61.83)

871/1135 (76.74)*#

<0.001

 EF, %

57.0 (50, 61)

59.5 (53, 65)

59.0 (54, 65)

0.07

 BMI, kg/m²

26.85 (24.69, 28.50)

26.08 (23.46, 27.99)

36.57 (33.08, 41.42)*#

<0.001

 HR, bpm

66 (60, 74)

66 (60, 75)

69 (62, 76)*#

<0.001

 SBP, mmHg

127 (117, 138)

124 (114, 136)

130 (118, 140)#

<0.001

 CHD, n (%)

0.55

  CHD without MI

79/284 (27.82)

96/338 (28.40)

280/1135 (24.67)

  CHD with MI

56/284 (19.72)

71/338 (21.01)

231/1135 (20.35)

 Stroke, n (%)

21/284 (7.39)

28/338 (8.28)

109/1135 (9.60)

0.45

 COPD, n (%)

43/284 (15.14)

51/338 (15.09)

197/1135 (17.36)

0.48

 Asthma, n (%)

24/284 (8.45)

24/338 (7.10)

146/1135 (12.86)#

0.004

 Hypertension, n (%)

242/284 (85.21)

292/338 (86.39)

1047/1135 (92.25)*#

<0.001

 PAD, n (%)

27/284 (9.51)

35/338 (10.36)

142/1135 (12.51)

0.27

 Dyslipidemia, n (%)

185/284 (65.14)

225/338 (66.57)

837/1135 (73.74)*#

0.002

 Pacemaker, n (%)

44/284 (15.49)

66/338 (19.53)

132/1135 (11.63)#

0.001

 AF, n (%)

126/284 (44.37)

157/338 (46.45)

458/1135 (40.35)

0.10

 Smoking, n (%)

0.04

  Former smoker

139/284 (48.94)

166/338 (49.11)

592/1134 (52.20)

  Current smoker

30/284 (10.56)

19/338 (5.62)

67/1134 (5.91)

 METs per week^b

4.00 (0.67, 10.00)

2.33 (0, 7.00)*

1.50 (0, 7.00)*

<0.001

 ACEI/ARB, n (%)

193/285 (67.72)

258/338 (76.33)

936/1134 (82.54)*#

<0.001

 Nitrate, n (%)

33/285 (11.58)

67/338 (19.82)*

203/1134 (17.90)*

0.02

 BNP, pg/ml

239.5 (146, 442)

331.5 (203, 626)*

239 (143, 402)#

<0.001

 NT-pro BNP, pg/ml

831 (501, 1462)

1740.5 (792.5, 3252)*

884.5 (500, 1610.5)#

<0.001