The effects of verapamil and propranolol on quality of life in hypertension

Quality of life was evaluated in a four-month randomised double-blind trial of verapamil compared with propranolol in the treatment of hypertension in 94 patients in the UK. Scores on a health status index, measuring activity and perceived health, increased in verapamil patients compared to a decrease in propranolol patients (P = 0.01). Measures of psychiatric morbidity also tended to improve with verapamil and deteriorate with propranolol. Propranolol patients reported more symptoms overall compared with verapamil (P less than 0.05). The prevalence of certain symptoms--headaches, weak limbs and slower walking pace, increased significantly with propranolol compared with verapamil, but constipation was more common in verapamil patients (P less than 0.05). After four months, diastolic blood pressure averaged 86.2 mmHg with verapamil and 90.3 mmHg with propranolol (P = 0.02). However, this difference in final blood pressure did not explain the more favourable quality of life scores with verapamil, and the data suggest that health-related well-being is higher with this drug.