Prevalence of medical illness in patients with anxiety disorders

This investigation examines the prevalence and characteristics of medical illness in 711 patients enrolled in the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Disorders Research Program (HARP), a multi-center, longitudinal study of anxiety disorders.

Eligible subjects were those with present or past index anxiety disorders: panic disorder without agoraphobia, panic disorder with agoraphobia, agoraphobia without panic disorder, social phobia, or generalized anxiety disorder. They were assessed by trained raters using structured diagnostic interviews and the Medical History Form II.

Patients with panic disorder and co-morbid major depressive disorder had significantly higher rates of reported medical illness than anxiety disorder patients without depression. When the rates of medical illness for all subjects were compared with those from the Rand Health Insurance Experiment, we found the prevalence of several medical problems to be disproportionately increased.

Although our results are preliminary, it appears that patients with panic disorder have more reported medical problems than the public at large, in particular, more ulcer disease, angina, and thyroid disease. Somatic complaints in patients with panic disorder, therefore, need to be carefully considered.