Panic attack symptoms in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Psychiatry
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) assessment typically focuses on hyperglycemia-induced nerve damage.
• Psychiatric comorbidities are often overlooked in DPN patient management.
• Screening for common psychiatric disorders may enhance psychopathology recognition in DPN.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the prevalence of panic attack symptoms in DPN patients versus a healthy control group.
• To compare the severity of panic attack symptoms between DPN patients and controls.
• To investigate the relationship between DPN duration and panic attack symptom severity.

Main Methods:

• Epidemiological cohort study involving a survey over three years.
• 267 participants: 83 with DPN and 184 healthy controls.
• Utilized the Prime-MD Patient Health Questionnaire for data collection.

Main Results:

• DPN patients exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of panic attack symptoms compared to controls (p < 0.01).
• Significant differences in panic attack symptom severity were observed within the DPN group (p < 0.05).
• DPN patients with over one year of disease duration reported more severe symptoms.

Conclusions:

• The high prevalence of panic attack symptoms in DPN underscores the need for integrated psychiatric screening.
• Routine screening for panic attack symptoms should be considered in DPN management.
• Addressing psychiatric comorbidities can improve comprehensive diabetes mellitus care.