Presence of panic disorder among medical patient referred to psychiatry

ABSTRACT

A retrospective application of the panic questionnaire and the life stressors questionnaire on 50 patients with unexplained somatic symptoms referred for psychiatric consultation by other medical disciplines. The most common presenting symptoms were related to, head, chest, heart, and abdomen. Analysis revealed two groups of patients, panic disorder patients [N = 32] and non - panic patients [N = 18]. Panic group presented more frequent and severe somatic symptoms and they were associated with different life stressors. The results also indicate that the panic patients had utilized more frequently the health services