The Bodily Panic Symptoms and Predisposing Stressors in Korean Patients with Panic Disorder

Hyun-Joo Lee; Min-Sook Gim; Se Joo Kim; Seon-Cheol Park; Jong-Chul Yang; Kyoung-Uk Lee; Sang-Hyuk Lee; Seung-Jae Lee; Se-Won Lim; Jeong-Ho Chae; Sang-Woo Han; Jin Pyo Hong; Ho-Jun Seo

doi:10.4306/jknpa.2019.58.4.339

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Lee, Gim, Kim, Park, Yang, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lim, Chae, Han, Hong, and Seo: The Bodily Panic Symptoms and Predisposing Stressors in Korean Patients with Panic Disorder

Original Article

Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association 2019; 58(4): 339-345.

Published online: 30 November 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4306/jknpa.2019.58.4.339

The Bodily Panic Symptoms and Predisposing Stressors in Korean Patients with Panic Disorder

Hyun-Joo Lee, MD¹, Min-Sook Gim, MD, PhD¹, Se Joo Kim, MD, PhD², Seon-Cheol Park, MD, PhD³, Jong-Chul Yang, MD, PhD⁴, Kyoung-Uk Lee, MD, PhD⁵, Sang-Hyuk Lee, MD, PhD⁶, Seung-Jae Lee, MD, PhD⁷, Se-Won Lim, MD, PhD⁸, Jeong-Ho Chae, MD, PhD⁹, Sang-Woo Han, MD, PhD¹⁰, Jin Pyo Hong, MD, PhD¹¹, Ho-Jun Seo, MD, PhD¹²

¹Department of Psychiatry, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

²Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, College of Medicine, Yonsei University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

³Department of Psychiatry, Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital, Busan, Korea.

⁴Department of Psychiatry, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.

⁵Department of Psychiatry, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

⁶Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, School of Medicine, CHA University of Korea, Seongnam, Korea.

⁷Department of psychiatry, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.

⁸Department of Psychiatry, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, College of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.

⁹Department of Psychiatry, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

¹⁰Department of Psychiatry, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea.

¹¹Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, College of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.

¹²Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Address for correspondence: Ho-Jun Seo, MD, PhD. Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 93 Jungbu-daero, Paldal-gu, Suwon 16247, Korea. Tel +82-31-249-8038, Fax +82-31-248-6758, healm@catholic.ac.kr

Received 12 May 2019 Revised 27 June 2019 Accepted 31 July 2019

Korean Neuropsychiatric Association

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to investigate the distinctive features of bodily panic symptoms and the predisposing conditions in Korean patients with panic disorder.

Methods

This was a retrospective chart review study and the data were collected from twelve university-affiliated hospitals in Korea. The patients selected met the diagnostic criteria for panic disorder, were older than 20 years of age, and had initially visited a psychiatry department. The assessments included the chief complaints related to bodily panic symptoms, recent stressors, recent history of alcohol and sleep problems, and time to visit an outpatient clinic.

Results

A total of 814 participants were included in the study. The most commonly experienced symptoms were cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms, which were observed in 63.9% and 55.4% of participants, respectively. Just before the onset of a panic attack, 25.6% of participants experienced sleep-related problems. Episodic binge drinking was also frequently observed (13.2%) and was more prevalent in men than in women (22.6% vs. 4.9%, p<0.001). About 75% of participants experienced stressful life events just before panic onset. Work-related issues were more prevalent in men than in women (22.0% vs. 13.4%, p=0.001). Family-related issues (4.8% vs. 14.1%, p<0.001) and conflict with a spouse or partner (4.0% vs.11.7%, p<0.001) were more prominent in women than in men.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that cardiovascular symptoms are the most common bodily panic symptoms in Korean patients. Our results suggest that a substantial portion of the Korean patients experienced stressful life events, sleep problems, and/or episodic binge drinking just before the onset of panic disorder.

Keywords: Panic disorder, Korean patients, Bodily panic symptom, Stressful life event

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1

The chief complaints of panic attack reported by the subjects (n=814).

Fig. 2

Stressors prior to the onset of first panic attack (n=814).

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants (n=814)

SD : Standard deviation

Notes

^{Conflicts of Interest} The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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