[Psychological effects in the drug treatment of arterial hypertension. A study during a community preventive program]

The possibility that antihypertensive drug treatment may induce neurotic symptoms was investigated in a random sample of 114 hypertensives enrolled in an "Hypertension Register" by means of the Kellner and Sheffield Symptom Rating Test (S.R.T.). Of them 73 were on antihypertensive treatment; 41 untreated subjects constituted the control group. Covariance analysis adjusting for age and diastolic blood pressure was used as a statistical test. The comparison between treated and not treated hypertensive subjects did not show any significant difference either for total S.R.T. score (12.6 vs 10.6 in M, 11.6 vs 14.6 in F), or for the partial scores of anxiety (3.5 vs 3.0 in M, 3.1 vs 3.4 in F), depression (2.4 vs 2.2 in M, 2.7 vs 3.5 in F), somatization (4.2 vs 3.2 in M, 3.9 vs 5.6 in F), inadequacy (2.4 vs 2.1 in M, 1.9 vs 2.1 in F). Taking into account the total group (M + F) of treated hypertensives, no significant differences were observed between different treatments (reserpine, alphamethyldopa, clonidine; beta-blockers, diuretics). However beta-blockers and clonidine showed the highest scores for total S.R.T. score (17.3 and 13.2 respectively). The study suggests that the antihypertensive drugs taken into consideration, at least at the given regime, do not induce such psychological side effects as to prevent them being used in a programme of secondary prevention of hypertension.