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Caffeine challenge in patients with panic disorder: baseline differences between those who panic and those who do not
Author(s) -
Masdrakis Vasilios G.,
Papakostas Yiannis G.,
Vaidakis Nikos,
Papageorgiou Charalambos,
Pehlivanidis Artemios
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
depression and anxiety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.634
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6394
pISSN - 1091-4269
DOI - 10.1002/da.20333
Subject(s) - panic , panic disorder , agoraphobia , anxiety , anxiogenic , psychology , psychopathology , psychiatry , hyperventilation , medicine , anxiolytic
A proportion of patients with panic disorder (PD) display an increased sensitivity to the anxiogenic/panicogenic properties of caffeine. The aim of this study is to identify probable baseline differences between PD patients who panic and those who do not, after caffeine administration. In a randomized, double‐blind, cross‐over experiment performed in two occasions 3–7 days apart, 200 and 400 mg of caffeine, respectively, were administered in a coffee form to 23 patients with PD with or without Agoraphobia. Evaluations included the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory, the DSM‐IV ‘panic attack’ symptoms (visual analogue scale form), the Symptom Checklist‐90‐Revised (SCL‐90‐R), as well as breath‐holding (BH) duration, heartbeat perception accuracy and heart rate. Only those patients who did not present a panic attack after both challenges (‘no panic group’, N =14, 66.7%), and those who presented a panic attack after at least one challenge (‘panic group’, n =7, 33.3%) were included in the analysis. The panickers, compared to the non‐panickers, presented at baseline : significantly higher total score of the SCL‐90‐R; significantly higher scores on all the SCL‐90‐R clusters of symptoms, except that of ‘paranoid ideation’; significantly lower BH duration. The present preliminary findings indicate that PD patients who panic after a 200 mg or a 400 mg caffeine challenge, compared to the PD patients who do not panic after both of these challenges, may present at baseline significantly higher non‐specific general psychopathology—as reflected in the SCL‐90‐R—and significantly shorter BH duration. Depression and Anxiety . © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.