Table 1

Participant characteristics

				Interviews
Patient number	Gender, Age	Aetiology of heart failure	NYHA class	T1	T2	T3	Duration in study (months)	Alive or dead at end of study	Bereavement interviews
1	Female, 57	Hypertensive heart disease	III	P	P	P	6	Alive
2	Female, 35	Hypertensive heart disease	IV	P	P	P&C	6	Alive
3	Male, 65	Dilated cardiomyopathy	IV	P	P	P	6	Alive
4	Male, 75	Right-sided heart failure (from COPD)	III	P&C	P&C	P&C	6	Alive
5	Male, 31	Right-sided heart failure (from pulmonary fibrosis)	IV	P	P	P	6	Alive
6	Female, 60	Hypertensive heart disease	IV	P&C	†		2	Dead	✓
7	Male, 50	Dilated cardiomyopathy	III	P	P	P	6	Alive
8	Female, 50	Hypertensive heart disease	III	P	P&C	P	6	Alive
9	Male, 38	Hypertensive heart disease	III	P	Untraceable		1	Not known
10	Male, 45	Right-sided heart failure (from COPD)	IV	P	P	†	5	Dead	X—carer lived beyond 35 km from recruiting hospital
11	Female, 50	Hypertensive heart disease	III	P	P	P	6	Alive
12	Female, 19	Extra pulmonary tuberculosis	IV	P	P	P	6	Alive
13	Male, 60	Hypertensive heart disease	III	P&C	P	P	6	Alive
14	Female, 60	Hypertensive heart disease	IV	P&C	†		1	Dead	✓
15	Female, 31	Dilated cardiomyopathy	III	P	Untraceable		1	Not known
16	Female, 33	Hypertensive heart disease	III	P	P	P	6	Alive
17	Female, 50	Hypertensive heart disease	III	P	P	Untraceable	5	Not known
18	Male, 36	Right-sided heart failure (from COPD)	IV	P	Untraceable		1	Not known

†Death.
C, Carer; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; NYHA, New York Heart Association; P, Patient; T1, 1st interview; T2, 2nd interview; T3, 3rd interview.