Prevalence of panic disorder in cardiac outpatients.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate outpatients from Toronto-area cardiology clinics for panic disorder (PD) and investigate differences between patients with and without PD.

METHOD

Participants were diagnosed using both standard DSM-IV criteria and an altered formulation that identified a more fearful panic group.

RESULTS

There was a prevalence of panic disorder (12.5%) in cardiac outpatients in keeping with previous studies. Patients with PD did not differ significantly from other patients with regard to the presence of significant heart disease. The higher prevalence of palpitations found in patients who met criteria for PD compared with those who did not reflects previous findings. PD cases did not differ significantly in family history from respondents without the disorder, but the more fearful group did (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

PD often presents with cardiac symptoms, especially palpitations, and is often comorbid with heart disease.