Side-effects of beta-adrenoceptor blocking drugs assessed by visual analogue scales.

A series of visual analogue scales (VAS) was used to examine the prevalence of side-effects among hypertensive patients taking beta-adrenoceptor blocking drugs. When compared to untreated non-hypertensive control subjects, patients taking beta-adrenoceptor blockers had a greater prevalence of tired legs (P less than 0.001), cold digits (P less than 0.01), insomnia (P less than 0.01) and loss of overall wellbeing (P less than 0.01). Side-effects did not differ significantly between patients taking atenolol (n = 30), oxprenolol (n = 16), propranolol (n = 15) or metoprolol (n = 10). If there is an important difference in the prevalence of side-effects between different beta-adrenoceptor blockers, a much larger study will be needed to demonstrate it.