Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:110-113
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Prevalence of panic in patients referred for pulmonary function testing at a major medical center
MH Pollack, R Kradin, MW Otto, J Worthington, R Gould, SA Sabatino and JF Rosenbaum
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the prevalence and correlates of panic
disorder in a group of patients who were referred for pulmonary function
testing. METHOD: Patients (N = 115) were screened for the presence of panic
attacks and panic disorder with a self-report questionnaire; a subgroup (N
= 25) received structured diagnostic assessment. RESULTS: Of the 115
patients, 41% (N = 47) reported panic attacks and 17% (N = 20) met
screening criteria for panic disorder. From the confirmed rate of panic
disorder among the subgroup who received structured diagnostic assessment,
the overall prevalence rate of panic disorder was estimated to be 11% and
included six of the nine patients (67%) who had a diagnosis of chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease. There were no significant differences
between patients with and without panic in the severity of pulmonary
function abnormalities or in the response to bronchodilators. However,
patients with panic attacks were significantly more likely to report
dyspnea at rest and irritable bowel symptoms and tended to report
difficulty swallowing. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that panic disorder
and subsyndromal panic are relatively common and may be unrecognized and
inadequately treated in patients who present with respiratory symptoms.
