Excess mortality in panic disorder. A comparison with primary unipolar depression.
We located 113 former inpatients with panic disorder 35 years after index admission. According to age- and sex-specific Iowa population figures, patients with panic disorder had significant excess mortality due to death by unnatural causes. Other studies suggest that secondary depression and alcoholism may have had a role in these deaths. Men with panic disorder also exhibited excess mortality due to circulatory system disease. In an age- and sex-matched patient group with primary unipolar depression, both men and women showed excess mortality. Suicide accounted for 20.0% and 16.2% of deaths in the panic disorder and primary depression groups, respectively. We conclude that panic disorder accounted for much of the excess mortality formerly noted in the "neuroses."
D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D010200:Panic; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000401:mortality*; D013405:Suicide / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology