Baseline characteristics by quartiles of baseline heart rate
| Characteristics (n=1679) | Quartile 1 (n=395) | Quartile 2 (n=442) | Quartile 3 (n=395) | Quartile 4 (n=447) | P value |
| Heart rate range, bpm | 31–64 | 65–75 | 76–86 | 87–160 | |
| Age, years | 75.5 (8.5) | 75.0 (8.6) | 73.9 (8.8) | 71.9 (9.6) | <0.0001 |
| Female sex, % | 21.8 | 21.5 | 26.6 | 28.6 | 0.03 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 27.5 (4.6) | 28.0 (4.9) | 28.0 (4.8) | 28.0 (4.9) | 0.37 |
| History of coronary artery disease, % | 38.7 | 33.3 | 28.4 | 22.2 | <0.0001 |
| History of stroke or TIA, % | 22.5 | 19.5 | 21.8 | 17.2 | 0.21 |
| History of hypertension, % | 76.5 | 76.9 | 73.2 | 75.6 | 0.61 |
| History of heart failure, % | 39.5 | 31.9 | 33.9 | 28.6 | 0.009 |
| History of diabetes, % | 21.0 | 19.2 | 18.5 | 18.8 | 0.81 |
| Smoking status, % | |||||
| Current | 5.6 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 9.0 | 0.20 |
| Former | 53.2 | 50.5 | 45.8 | 48.8 | |
| Never | 41.3 | 43.0 | 47.9 | 42.3 | |
| Oral anticoagulation, % | 93.9 | 92.5 | 94.7 | 88.1 | 0.002 |
| Antiarrhythmic drugs*, % | |||||
| Class 1c | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.20 |
| Class 2 | 65.8 | 74.9 | 75.2 | 75.2 | 0.004 |
| Class 3 | 8.1 | 10.6 | 11.7 | 14.3 | 0.04 |
| Class 4 | 27.6 | 26.0 | 18.2 | 18.6 | 0.001 |
| Use of digoxin, % | 9.1 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 7.2 | 0.69 |
| Regular physical activity, % | 42.4 | 42.5 | 42.5 | 43.2 | 0.99 |
| Alcohol consumption, standard units/day | 0.80 (1.4) | 0.57 (1.4) | 0.43 (1.2) | 0.50 (1.1) | 0.13 |
Normally distributed continuous data are presented as means (SD), qualitative data are presented as absolute numbers (percentages). Non-normally distributed data (alcohol use) are presented as median (IQR).
*Vaughan William classifications: class 1c, sodium-channel blockers, class 2=beta-blockers, class 3=amiodarone, sotalol and dronedarone; class 4=non-dihydropyridine calcium-channel blockers.
TIA, transient ischaemic attack.