Panic-fear in asthma: requests for as-needed medications in relation to pulmonary function measurements.
Requests for as-needed medications and treatments (PRNs) by asthmatic patients scoring high, moderate, or low on the Asthma Symptom Checklist panic-fear category were studied for days when patients were matched at normal, intermediate, and subnormal levels of pulmonary function. Low panic-fear patients were the least likely to request PRNs regardless of the pulmonary function level. In contrast, high panic-fear patients often requested PRNs each level of pulmonary function. Only moderate panic-fear patients made progressively more PRN requests on days when pulmonary functions were lower. These observations and others concerning the adverse influence of extreme panic-feat coping styles upon the treatment of asthma were discussed.
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012119:Respiration