Sociodemographic characteristics and comorbidity in panic disorder patients

Aim: The aim of the present study is to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics and the frequency of comorbid Axis I diagnosis in panic disorder (PD) patients. Method: 77 patients who referrred to the psychiatry outpatient clinic of Vakıf Gureba Training and Research Hospital and Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital and who were diagnosed with panic disorder according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were included in the study. Comorbid psychiatric diagnoses were evaluated by SCID-I (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders). Results: Fifty six of the patients (72.7%) were female, and 21 (27.3%) were male. Mean age was 35.53±12.25. Among patients, 37.7% had Axis I psychiatric disorder diagnosis in their family histories. In 93% of the patients, a psychiatric comorbidity was diagnosed along with panic disorder. The most common Axis I comorbidity was major depression (47.2%). Discussion: Although the number of female patients was higher when compared to other studies, female/male ratio was determined to be lower. The rate of major depression was compatible with the literature, while comorbidity rates for generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder (SAD) were found to be lower than the groups in similar literature. SAD comorbidity rate in PD patients with agoraphobia was found to be significantly higher than the PD group without agoraphobia. Conclusion: Nearly half of the PD patients had major depression, while in patients with comorbid agoraphobia, prevalence of comorbid disorders, particularly of SAD, was shown to increase.