Asthma and panic disorder

OBJECTIVE: To compare asthma attacks with panic attacks and identify discriminating symptoms. DESIGN: Survey, case-control study. SETTING: Tertiary care centers. PATIENTS: Convenience sample of 71 patients with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, and without medical illnesses; and 71 patients with asthma, cohort-matched from 407 patients to be demographically similar to the panic disorder sample. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Asthma Symptom Checklist. RESULTS: Clusters of symptoms reflecting panic-fear and hyperventilation-hypocapnia were more strongly endorsed by subjects with panic disorder, whereas airway obstruction symptom clusters were more strongly descriptive of asthma attacks (all P < .05). Three symptoms differentiated the groups with sensitivity greater than 0.90 and specificity greater than 0.70: wheezing, mucous congestion, and coughing, all being present significantly more among asthma attacks than panic attacks. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of what symptoms discriminate asthma attacks from panic attacks may help physicians identify each type of attack in individuals who experience both.