4.2. Limitations of the Study
death, cardiovascular disease, left ventricular dysfunction, cognitive decline, disability
LEFT VENTRICULAR DYSFUNCTION, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
This analysis has some limitations which should be acknowledged. First, the interviews were performed by only considering the intervention group, as the control group did not attend the exercise-based program and it was therefore not possible to contact outpatients from the control arm. Second, older patients with cognitive decline, disability or severe left ventricular dysfunction were excluded, due to the difficulty to attend visits and perform functional evaluations. Third, there was a relatively small proportion of women in the study. This is relevant because previous studies suggest that female patients have lower age-standardized cardiovascular disease incidence, prevalence, and death rates than men [