The relationship of symptomatology to impairment in patients with panic disorder

This study evaluates the relationship between panic symptomatology and impairment in a clinical sample. The study sample consists of 77 outpatients who presented for treatment of panic disorder. The measure of impairment, the Sheehan Disability Scale, is a composite measure of social, family and vocational impairment. Three DSM-III-R symptom criteria, frequency of attacks, percent of time spent worrying about the next attack and phobic anxiety are significantly related to impairment. Thirty-seven percent of the variance in impairment is accounted for by these symptom measures. We conclude that panic disorder symptomatology is positively associated with impairment. That is, more severe symptomatology is associated with greater impairment. However, the symptoms of panic psychopathology do not fully explain impairment in patients with panic disorder. We speculate that other aspects of the medical history such as comorbidity, duration of illness and treatment history would account for further variance in impairment.