Chest
Volume 122, Issue 2, August 2002, Pages 645-650
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Clinical Investigations
MISCELLANEOUS
Respiratory Disease and Panic Attacks Among Adults in the United States

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.122.2.645Get rights and content

Objective

To determine the association between respiratory disease and panic attacks among adults in the US population.

Method

Data were drawn from the Midlife Development in the United States Survey (n = 3,032), a representative sample of adults aged 25 to 74 years. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between self-reported respiratory and other lung disease and panic attacks, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and alcohol/substance use disorders.

Results

After adjusting for demographic characteristics, comorbid mental disorders, and comorbid physical disorders, self-reported respiratory disease (ie, asthma, chronic bronchitis, or emphysema) was associated with a significantly increased likelihood of panic attacks (odds ratio, 1.7; confidence interval, 1.2 to 2.4). Other self-reported lung disease was also associated with a significantly increased odds of panic attacks (odds ratio, 2.3; confidence interval, 1.2 to 4.2), and having both self-reported respiratory disease and another lung disease was associated with increased likelihood of panic attacks (odds ratio, 4.1; confidence interval, 1.7, 9.9). These associations also persisted after adjusting for demographic characteristics, comorbid mental disorders, and physical comorbidity.

Conclusion

These findings are consistent with and extend previous clinical and epidemiologic data by showing a specific association between self-reported respiratory disease and panic attacks among adults. Future studies that investigate the relationship between respiratory disease and panic attacks, and other mental disorders, using prospectively collected data on respiratory functioning, may help to improve our understanding of the mechanism of this association.

Section snippets

Sample

The Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) Survey is a nationally representative survey of 3,032 persons aged 25 to 74 years in the noninstitutionalized civilian population of the 48 coterminous United States.14 The MIDUS Survey was carried out by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Network on Successful Midlife Development between January 1995 and January 1996. The survey was based on a nationally representative random-digit-dial samples of noninstitutionalized,

Description of the Sample

The overall sample was 50.8% female, 62.3% married, 75.1% white, 5.7% black, and 2.5% Hispanic. The average respondent age was 46.35 years (SD, 13.22 years), and 60.4% of the sample completed high school. The overall response rate was 60.8%.

Self-reported respiratory or lung disease was prevalent among 13.0% of the adult population; 9.8% of the population had self-reported respiratory disease (ie, asthma, bronchitis or emphysema), 1.6% had other lung problems, and 1.4% had both asthma,

Discussion

These data are consistent with and extend previous findings documenting an association between self-reported respiratory disease and increased likelihood of panic attacks among adults in the general population. This association, which persists after adjusting for differences in sociodemographic characteristics, physical illnesses, and comorbid mental disorders, is specific to panic attacks. These results also provide preliminary evidence suggesting that GAD and alcohol/substance-use disorders

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