Secondary depression in patients with cardiac phobia was associated with a significantly smaller chance of being free of cardiophobic complaints at 2.5 years compared to primary depression (p=0.002).
Cohort (n=29)
Does the presence of secondary depression worsen the prognosis of cardiac phobia compared to primary depression?
Secondary depression is a prognostically unfavorable factor in patients with cardiac phobia, significantly reducing the likelihood of symptom resolution.
p-value: p=0.002
In a prospectively constructed study 29 patients with cardiac phobia were examined prior to hospitalization and again after a follow-up period of 2.5 years. When first examined a high percentage (82.8%) of these patients showed a depression in addition to suffering from anxiety symptoms. The findings demonstrate that an additional affective disorder constitutes a prognostically unfavorable factor, particularly in the case of a 'secondary' depression. Compared with patients suffering from a 'primary' depression these patients more frequently exhibited a chronic course of the depression (at the 1% level of significance) and had a significantly smaller chance of being free of cardiophobic complaint (p = 0.002) at the last examination. An attempt to categorize cardiac phobia according to DSM-III revealed that the present classification does not provide a satisfactory solution. The frequent presence of a depression in these patients strongly indicates that a clarification of the controversial opinions which continue to exist with regard to a linkage between depressive disorders and anxiety disorders would need further research; in such studies it would seem preferable not to employ a hierarchic classification procedure, in view of the fact that all cross-sectional psychopathological symptoms should be taken into consideration. Our findings also point to the advisability of paying closer attention to course traits in studying this question.
Nutzinger et al. (Tue,) conducted a cohort in Cardiac phobia (Panic Disorder) (n=29). Secondary depression vs. Primary depression was evaluated on Being free of cardiophobic complaint at 2.5 years (p=0.002). Secondary depression in patients with cardiac phobia was associated with a significantly smaller chance of being free of cardiophobic complaints at 2.5 years compared to primary depression (p=0.002).