Table 1

Clinical characteristics and exercise capacity data according to tertiles of peak-ex BNP level

	Whole Cohort n=211	Tertile 1 (6–42 pg/mL) n=71	Tertile 2 (43–91 pg/mL) n=70	Tertile 3 (92–956 pg/mL) n=70	p Value†
Clinical data
Age, years	68±11	65±12	69±10*	69±10*	0.03
Male gender, %	64%	63%	66%	63%	0.91
Height, cm	167±8	167±7	168±10	166±8	0.50
Weight, kg	74±13	76±12	76±12	72±13	0.21
Body surface area, m²	1.82±0.18	1.82±0.18	1.83±0.18	1.81±0.19	0.71
Body mass index, kg/m²	26.6±3.7	27.1±3.9	26.8±3.5	26.0±3.6	0.27
Heart rate, beats/min	70±12	71±12	70±10	70±13	0.99
History of hypertension, %	53%	57%	49%	53%	0.65
Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg	141±21	142±24	139±17	142±21	0.71
Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg	77±11	79±11	74±10*	77±11	0.04
Hypercholesterolaemia, %	46%	48%	43%	47%	0.83
Diabetes, %	14%	13%	12%	17%	0.44
History of smoking, %	27%	24%	31%	28%	0.65
Resting BNP level, pg/mL	43 (24–81)	16 (9–26)	45 (39–60)	101 (76–133)	By design
Exercise testing data
Duration, min	9.1±3.1	9.0±2.6	8.9±2.9	9.4±3.6	0.69
Peak-ex workload, watts	99±35	102±38	101±35	94±33	0.35
Peak-ex heart rate, beats/min	120±19	124±20	119±16	118±19	0.13
Percent of predicted maximal heart rate, %	91±12	92±12	91±11	90±14	0.83
Peak-ex systolic blood pressure, mm Hg	179±23	184±23	177±24	177±22	0.17
Peak-ex diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg	87±14	90±14	85±14	86±13	0.09
Peak-ex BNP level, pg/mL	58 (29–115)	20 (13–30)	59 (53–74)	146 (115–201)	By design

Values are mean±SD except for BNP data which are median (IQR).
†p Value of the one-way ANOVA. The following symbols indicate the significance of the Tukey's post hoc test: *p<0.05 from ‘Tertile 1’.
BNP, B-type natriuretic peptide; Peak-ex, peak-exercise.