Anger tendency may be associated with duration of illness in panic disorder.
BACKGROUND
Several studies have reported an increased tendency towards anger in patients with panic disorder (PD). If this propensity for anger arises from the pathological process of PD, it may be associated with the duration of the illness. The present study therefore examined the relationship between duration of PD and the personality tendency to experience anger in PD patients.


METHODS
Participants were 413 patients (132 men and 281 women; age = 38.7 years) with PD. Diagnoses were confirmed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Illness duration ranged from less than a year to 51 years. After participants completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, we examined the association between illness duration and the Angry Hostility and Impulsiveness subscale scores. In the analysis, participants were divided into two groups by duration of illness (long group, n = 186 and short group, n = 200) using the median value (9 years) as a cut-off because of the skewed distribution of the duration. Patients with an illness duration of 9 years (n = 27) were excluded from the comparison.


RESULTS
The duration of illness was significantly correlated with the Angry Hostility score (p = 0.002) after controlling for age. Scores were significantly higher in the long group than in the short group (p = 0.04). No significant association was observed between Impulsiveness scores and duration of illness.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study suggests that longer PD duration is related to a stronger tendency to experience anger.
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0004 Japan.
Nagisa
N
Sugaya
Outpatient Clinic for Anxiety Disorders, Akasaka Clinic, 3-9-18 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 Japan.
Eiji
E
Yoshida
Outpatient Clinic for Anxiety Disorders, Akasaka Clinic, 3-9-18 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 Japan ; Kinkou Hospital, Kanagawa Psychiatric Center, 2-5-1, Serigaya, Kounan-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 233-0006 Japan ; Neural Plasticity Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, 2-1-6 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8506 Japan.
Shin
S
Yasuda
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8655 Japan.
Mamoru
M
Tochigi
Health Service Center, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654 Japan ; Office for Mental Health Support, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654 Japan.
Kunio
K
Takei
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8655 Japan.
Takeshi
T
Otowa
Health Service Center, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654 Japan.
Tadashi
T
Umekage
Department of Psychiatry, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie 514-8507 Japan.
Yoshiaki
Y
Konishi
School of Psychological Science, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 2-5 Ainosato, Kita-ku,, Sapporo, Hokkaido 002-8072 Japan.
Yuji
Y
Sakano
Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-1192 Japan.
Shinobu
S
Nomura
Department of Psychiatry, Koseikai Michinoo Hospital, 1-1 Nijigaoka-machi, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki 852-8055 Japan.
Yuji
Y
Okazaki
Outpatient Clinic for Anxiety Disorders, Akasaka Clinic, 3-9-18 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 Japan ; Research Center for Panic Disorder, Nagoya Mental Clinic, 1-16 Tsubaki-cho, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 453-0015 Japan.
Hisanobu
H
Kaiya
Department of Psychiatry, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie 514-8507 Japan ; Research Center for Panic Disorder, Nagoya Mental Clinic, 1-16 Tsubaki-cho, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 453-0015 Japan.
Hisashi
H
Tanii
Office for Mental Health Support, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654 Japan ; Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 Japan.
Tsukasa
T
Sasaki
Anger; Illness duration; Panic disorder; Personality