Cognitive-behavioral therapy of patients with pure and comorbid panic disorder in a hospital setting–a comparison of therapy response

There are many clinical studies existing about the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral treatment of patients with anxiety disorders in hospital and non-hospital settings. It is still unknown, whether comorbid psychiatric disorders which are very frequent in all populations of anxiety patients have an influence on therapy response. The majority of preexisting controlled clinical studies exclude patients with comorbid psychiatric disorders.

We herein present first data from a cross-sectional study on 47 patients with pure (38%) and comorbid (62%) panic disorder with or without agoraphobia that each participated on a 5-week cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment in a hospital setting. Patients are assessed with the „Beck anxiety inventory“ (BAI), the „Mobilitätsinventar“ (MI), the „Agoraphobic cognitions questionnaire“ (ACQ) and the „Body sensations questionnaire“ (BSQ) at the beginning and the end of therapy. In addition we have patient’s data from the SCL–90-R and data of neuropsychological functions.

Frequently, anxiety patients suffered from affective disorders (43%) or substance dependence (16%). Patients with comorbid disorders had more additional hospitalization days and received more psychopharmacological treatment. In both subgroups of patients, therapy was effective and well tolerated with respect to anxiety symptoms.