Korean J Biol Psychiatry.  2019 Oct;26(2):65-70. 10.0000/kjbp.2019.26.2.65.

Clinical Characteristics of Female Panic Disorder Patients with Abortion History

• Hwang HJ
• Oh J
• Bang M
• Won E
• Lee KS
• Choi TK
• Lee SH

• KMID: 2469517
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.0000/kjbp.2019.26.2.65

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study is to investigate differences in clinical characteristics between female panic disorder (PD) patients with abortion history (PD+A) and without abortion history (PD−A).
METHODS
We examined data from 341 female patients diagnosed with PD. We divided the patients with PD into PD+A (82 patients) and PD−A (259 patients) to compare demographic and clinical characteristics. The following instruments were applied : stress coping strategies, NEO-neuroticism, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (ASI-R), the Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire (APPQ), the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Sheehan Disability Scale.
RESULTS
Compared to the PD−A, the PD+A group showed no significant difference in coping strategies. However, significantly higher scores in neuroticism, the ASI-R, the APPQ and the BAI were observed. In terms of health-related disability, the PD+A group did not show significant difference.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that the PD+A group may differ from the PD−A group in trait markers such as neuroticism and anxiety sensitivity, and abortion history may be associated with panic-related symptom severity. Our study suggests that further consideration is needed on such clinical characteristics in PD patients with abortion history.

Keyword

Panic disorder; Induced abortion; Anxiety sensitivity; Neuroticism

MeSH Terms

Abortion, Induced*
Anxiety
Depression
Female*
Humans
Panic Disorder*
Panic*
Phobic Disorders