3.1. General characteristics of study patients
A total of 991 patients were included in the present study, with a median age of 65 (58,72) years old. Study participants were 76.1% male, and 26.7% lived in a rural area. As the highest level of education completed, elementary school accounted for the most frequent in 36.2% of the participants. Of the total respondents, 79% had a diagnosis of IHD and dyslipidemia, 88.5% were in NYHA functional class I, and 56.6% were on optimal medical therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention. Inadequate adherence to treatment was reported by 70.3%, with forgetfulness as the most frequent cause mentioned in 55.4% of the cases. Complete general characteristics of study participants are summarized in Table 1.