Abstract
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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 95-100 |
| Journal | Neurology Psychiatry and Brain Research |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 7 Dec 2005 |
Keywords
- Agoraphobia
- Joint hypermobility syndrome
- Panic
- Schizophrenia
- Social phobia