G. Barzega, G. Maina, S. Venturello, F. Bogetto - Vol. 6, Dicembre 2000, num.4
Testo Immagini Bibliografia Summary Riassunto Indice
Personalità e "life-events"
in pazienti con disturbo di panico (DP): una valutazione clinica preliminare
Personality and "life events" in patients with panic disorder
(PD): a preliminary clinical evaluation
ObjectiveIn agreement with recent literature reports, this study investigated in a sample of patients with a principal diagnosis of panic disorder (PD) gender-related differences in the distribution of personality disorders, and life events in the year preceding PD onset and the interaction between gender and personality diagnosis or presence of life events on the age at onset of PD.
Materials and method
90 patients (36 males and 54 females) with a principal diagnosis of PD (DSM-IV)
were selected among subjects consecutively referred to the Servizio per i
disturbi depressivi e d’ansia (Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin,
Italy). Admission criteria were: a negative history of schizophrenia or other
psychotic disorders; the absecnce of actual comorbid mood, anxiety or other
psychiatric disorders; an onset occurred in a period of 5 years. All patient
gave their written informed consent. All subjects were evaluated with a semistructured
interview to collect demographic and clinical data, any Axis I and II diagnoses
(DSM-IV), and life events occurring in the year preceding the onset (Paykel
et al., 1971). The comparisons between males and females were performed according
to Student’s t-test for continuous variables and to Chi-square test for categorical
variables. ANOVA was performed to evaluate interactions between gender and
the presence of a personality disorder or of a life event on the age at onset
of PD.
Results
Demographic and clinical variables did not present any gender-related difference
at the evaluation time. Females were more likely to have had comorbid agoraphobia.
According to personality disorders, male PD patients had more commonly comorbid
schizoid and borderline diagnoses, while all cluster C and hystrionic personality
disorders were more frequently observed among females. At least one event
and one severe event in the year preceding the onset were more frequently
referred by female PD patients, who had also higher scores on stress mesures.
The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant interaction between
gender and the presence of at least one event on the age at onset of PD, while
it revealed no significant the interaction between gender and the presence
of a personality disorder.
Conclusions
Male PD patients seem to be characterized by a more severe peronality psychopathology,
while PD female patients are characterized by cluster C, anxious, personality
disorders. The role of triggering events resulted more prominent among females.
Finally, the interaction between gender and triggering events seems to influence
significantly the age at onset of PD.