COMPARISON OF CLINICAL FEATURES OF PANIC DISORDER PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT FAMILY HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
Introduction: The large goal of this study elucidates the cause of panic disorder, and medical people carry out the fundamental treatment and prevention for the disorder. Purpose: One aim of this study was to investigate the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders (including panic disorder) in first-degree relatives of panic disorder patients. Another aim of this study was to examine the age at the onset of the first panic attack and the number of symptoms at onset in panic disorder patients in order to better understand the in fluence of family history of psychiatric disorders (including panic disorder). Design: This is cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: The subjects were patients with panic disorder (n=149) seen at Warakukai Incorporated Medical Institution Nagoya Mental Clinic. All patients met the criteria for the diagnosis of panic disorder (lifetime) based on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), which was conducted in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). Statistical analyses in this study were performed using one-way analysis of variance and multiple comparisons. Results: Patients with panic disorder having a first-degree relative with panic disorder exhibited early onset of that disorder (mean difference: 6.64, <0.05), but the results suggest that having a family history of related psychiatric disorders other than panic disorder does not affect age at onset (mean difference: 0.11, >0.05). In addition, patients with panic disorder having a first-degree relative with the same disorder had a significantly greater number of symptoms during their first panic attack (mean difference: -1.90, <0.05), but results suggest that having a family history of related psychiatric disorders other than panic disorder does not affect the number of symptoms (mean difference: -0.84, >0.05). Conclusion: These findings will help in the treatment of patients with panic disorder. There are also several limitations to this study. In the future, we want to increase the number of samples and produce further reports.