A prospective study of panic disorder in a Nigerian psychiatric out-patient population

Fifteen corresponding to 3% of the 500 patients seen at the Out-patient Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital Nigeria between December 1985 and September 1986 met the DSM - III criteria for panic disorder. The female to male ratio was 3:1; the mean age of onset was 23.7 years and married patients dominated the group. Predisposing life events were present in four patients and in three of these the factors were multiple. Ten of the patients improved markedly on imipramine in an open drug trial design which lasted 3 months; the two non-responders had both situational and spontaneous panic attacks. The effect of social stressors as precipitants of panic attacks was highlighted.