Semipersonalized psychological evaluation of quality of life in hypertensive patients during a trial with two calcium antagonists: a multicenter Latin-American Study (LASTLHY)

Objective:. The main objective of this study was to evaluate well-being and physical activity of 248 hypertensive patients, including 177 females, who had previously been included in the Latin-American Study on Lacidipine in Hypertension (LASTLHY). Subjects, materials and methods: This open study wa s carried out in 12 clinical centers in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, to compare, over a period of 16 weeks, the antihypertensive action of a fixed-dose, once daily of 4 mg lacidipine administered orally to 120 patients and 30 mg nifedipine GITS (Gastro-Intestinal Therapeutic Sy stem) administered to 128 patients, aged between 40 and 65 years. All patie nts had mild to moderate hypertension and treatment was begun at the end of a one-week placebo run-in period (end of week -1). Well-being and physical activity were assessed by means of single questionnaire, which reflected t he physical and cultural diversities amongst the clinical centers and patie nts. The questionnaire included 13 multiple-choice and 8 contingent open qu estions. The score of each question was multiplied by a coefficient related to the importance of each question to the patient (semipersonalization); t he coefficient was obtained from cultural and socioeconomic data collected at the time of enrollment. The semipersonalization was carried out by a bli nd psychological study with respect to the medication and had a high repeat ability in the assignment of personalized coefficients to the score of each question. The scores of each question were added to obtain an overall well -being and activity scoring. The possible theoretical range for the overall scoring in this study was 10 - 124. Results: See Table 1. Conclusion: The study revealed that the administration of calcium channel blockers such as lacidipine and nifedipine GITS, and lacidipine in particular, produced low incidence of side effects, and lacidipine in particular induced significant improvement in the quality of life.