Panic/phobic anxiety in schizophrenia: A positive association with joint hypermobility syndrome

Background: To study the rate of comorbidity between panic/phobic anxiety conditions and schizophrenia and ascertain whether the reported link between the anxiety disorders and the Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS) still holds in the presence of schizophrenia. Methods: The authors blindly assessed presence of comorbid panic/phobic cluster disorders and prevalence of JHS in 124 outpatients with established schizophrenia. Results: Nearly 30% of patients with schizophrenia were positive for a panic/phobic anxiety disorder (13.7% panic/agoraphobia, 10.5% social phobia and 5.6% simple phobia). Using Beighton's criteria, JHS was markedly more frequent amongst the schizophrenic-panic/phobic cluster (62.1%) than in the non-comorbid group (14.9%) [OR: 9.35, CI: 3.85-22.73, p<0.0001]. The panic/phobic cluster showed increased scores on fear and positive symptom scales. Conclusion: In patients with schizophrenia, the association between JHS and the panic/phobic cluster of anxiety disorders seems to persistent. © Universitätsverlag Ulm GmbH 2005.