Psychological Characteristics of β-Blocker Use in Patients with Arterial Hypertension (PSY-BETA)

The PSY-BETA study is an observational study using routinely collected clinical data from a specialized memory clinic. The primary objective is to examine whether the use of β-adrenergic blocking agents in patients with arterial hypertension is associated with differences in psychological and neuropsychological measures when compared to patients with hypertension who do not use beta-blockers. β-blockers are widely prescribed for cardiovascular indications, and differ substantially with regard to pharmacological properties such as lipophilicity and β-adrenergic receptor selectivity. Beyond their peripheral cardiovascular effects, the noradrenergic system plays an important role in the regulation of cognitive and affective functions, and β-adrenergic receptors are expressed within the central nervous system. Consequently, β-blocker use may be associated with psychological outcomes, particularly in domains related to cognition and mood. The extent to which such associations occur may be moderated by pharmacological characteristics of individual β-blockers, including their ability to cross the blood–brain barrier and their receptor selectivity. However, evidence on psychological correlates of β-blocker use in clinical populations remains heterogeneous. In this study, patients diagnosed with arterial hypertension and assessed in a memory clinic will be categorized according to β-blocker use. Psychological outcomes include standardized neuropsychological test results as well as validated questionnaire-based measures of depressive symptoms. In secondary analyses, β-blocker users will be further stratified according to pharmacological properties, including lipophilicity and β1 selectivity, to explore whether these characteristics are associated with differences in psychological measures.