title: Panic disorder and exercise avoidance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  1) To identify whether patients with panic disorder in general and those with the respiratory subtype in particular actively avoid exercise; 2) to investigate physiological differences in cardiopulmonary function parameters in patients with panic disorder in general, patients with the respiratory subtype of panic disorder, and healthy controls upon exercise challenge.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with panic disorder were classified as having either the respiratory or the non-respiratory subtype. Both groups were compared to controls in terms of exercise avoidance patterns and performance on cardiopulmonary exercise testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with panic disorder exhibited higher exercise avoidance scores and worse performance on cardiopulmonary exercise testing as compared with controls. No differences were found between patients with the respiratory and non-respiratory subtypes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exercise avoidance is present in panic disorder and is associated with poorer performance on cardiopulmonary exercise testing. These findings are not limited to patients with the respiratory subtype of the disorder.
authors.affiliation: Anxiety Disorders Program, Institute of Psychiatry and Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São PauloSP, Brazil, Anxiety Disorders Program, Institute of Psychiatry and Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Muotri
authors.affiliation: Anxiety Disorders Program, Institute of Psychiatry and Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São PauloSP, Brazil, Anxiety Disorders Program, Institute of Psychiatry and Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Márcio A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bernik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values; D012119:Respiration; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires