The effect of personality on placebo response in panic patients.

Twenty-eight patients who participated as a placebo group in a treatment study of panic disorder were studied to determine the effect of personality on study completion and outcome. Those subjects who completed only 3 weeks had significantly more pathological personality traits than those who continued in the study. For those continuing beyond 3 weeks, there were negative correlations between the paranoid and borderline personality traits and a global outcome measure. Spontaneous panic attacks were not affected by personality.