NPPB and heart failure: For the determinants of aggravated heart failure, we performed another forward stepwise analysis and found that TIMP1 and NT-proBNP were the major determinants for the presence of aggravated heart failure (OR: 1.025, 95% CI: 1.001–1.050 and OR: 1.010, 95% CI: 1.003–1.017, respectively).