Panic in a general practice population: prevalence, psychiatric comorbidity and associated disability

Background: Panic disorder and simple panic are known to be common disorder s associated with various physical and psychological difficulties, but thei r prevalence rates as reported in the literature vary widely. This pager is the result of a survey of panic in a general practice population, and disc usses prevalence rates, screening for panic and psychiatric comorbidity. Co mparisons are made between subjects with and without panic with regard to t heir self-reported disability. Methods: A random sample of 2000 individuals from the patient list of a group general practice were sent a questionnair e screening for panic attacks and asking for levels of everyday functioning and disability. Patients who screened positive for panic were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM III R. Results: A total of 1152 people responded to the questionnaire. In this sample, the lifetime pr evalence of panic was 8.6%, and well over half of these had single or multi ple additional psychiatric diagnoses. People with panic were found to perce ive themselves as significantly less physically and psychologically healthy . It was found that screening questions that focussed on the psychological symptoms of panic missed a significant proportion of subjects with panic, p articularly men. Conclusion: The level of psychiatric comorbidity in this s tudy mirrors that found by other investigators. The amount of perceived dis ability suffered by individuals with panic is considerable. This study map contribute to the argument that people with panic should be identified at a n early stage, to prevent unnecessary investigation and ensure adequate tre atment.