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Comorbid depressive disorder increases vulnerability to the 35% carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge in panic disorder
K Verburg1, T Klaassen, H Pols
1Dept. of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Academic Psychiatric Center, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
Background:
The hypothesis of this study was that panic disorder patients with a comorbid depressive disorder would be less vulnerable to the 35% CO2 panic provocation challenge than panic disorder patients without a comorbid depressive disorder. This hypothesis was based on findings from ventilatory response studies in depressive patients.
Methods:
Twelve panic disorder patients with and 23 panic disorder patients without a comorbid depressive disorder were challenged.
Results:
Panic disorder patients with a comorbid depressive disorder scored significantly higher on ratings of subjective anxiety and panic symptoms induced by the challenge.
Conclusions:
A comorbid depressive disorder appeared to increase the vulnerability of panic disorder patients to this panic provocation.
Limitation:
We did find significant differences, but these differences did not confirm the original hypothesis.
Clinical Relevance:
Our results support clinical data that show that a comorbid depressive disorder correlates with an increased severity of panic disorder.