Quality of life and efficacy of nebivolol in an open-label study in hypertensive patients. the QoLaN study

BACKGROUND: Nebivolol is a highly selective beta-adrenoreceptor antagonist with vasodilating properties. This study investigated its effect on quality of life (QoL) and blood pressure (BP) in real life conditions. In total, 1468 patients were enrolled, 12% diabetics. Nebivolol was prescribed as monotherapy, add-on or switch medication. METHODS: In this open-label, prospective study, the JNC-VII BP target values were used: < 140/90 and < 130/80 mmHg for diabetics. The responder rate and the QoL was determined at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks. RESULTS: After 4 weeks, 27% of subjects reached target BP, 45% after 8 weeks. The responder rates were 92, 90 and 83% for the monotherapy, add-on and switch groups. Compared with baseline, all showed statistical significance at 8 weeks. Similarly to results for the QoL after 8 weeks, the mean improvement in QoL for all three groups was 9-10 points (total range: 0-88). CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates that nebivolol in mild to moderate hypertension is associated with overall improvements in QoL, with a marked BP-lowering effect, in monotherapy, add-on or switch, irrespective of the glucose tolerance status. It may be hypothesized that its dual mode of action explains its BP-lowering effect as well as the tolerability.