Management of anxiety and panic attacks in immediate care facilities

The records of all patients entering the Emergency Department of a large general hospital and an adjacent walk-in medical clinic were reviewed for a 4-week period. Information was gathered on the assessment and treatment of patients given a final diagnosis of anxiety or panic disorder. The majority of patients receiving these diagnoses in both settings presented with physical complaints. In the Emergency Department, where psychiatric consultation services were available, psychiatric appointments were arranged for 80% of patients with anxiety as an entrance complaint and none of those with physical entrance complaints.