Adverse events during drug therapy can be assessed through measurement of 2 features: their frequency and their severity. Their severity, in turn, can be measured by assessing the distress that they cause. Our goal was to relate the magnitude of the distress induced by treatment with calcium-channel blocking agents to the change in quality of life assessed through psychosocial instruments in patients treated with calcium-channel blocking agents, either for hypertension or for angina pectoris.

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... thods: Four hundred seventy-five patients with angina pectoris were randomized to double-blind treatment with PPR (physiological pattern release) verapamil hydrochloride, amlodipine besylate, amlodipineatenolol combination, or placebo. In addition, 557 hypertensive patients were randomized either to PPR verapamil or nifedipine GITS (gastrointestinal system). Both studies were double-blind. Results: Significant differences in treatment of angina pectoris or hypertension, were not found between the