Statistics
Baseline characteristics were compared between surviving and deceased participants at 36 months after HF. Pearson’s chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to analyze categorical variables. Normally and non-normally distributed data were compared between groups using the independent-sample t and Mann–Whitney U test, respectively.To identify independent factors predicting 36-month post-HF mortality; correlations between baseline variables were tested using Pearson’s and Spearman’s coefficients (< 0.6 for all covariates) [Statistical analyses were conducted with SPSS (version 25; IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). 