Three-year medication prophylaxis in panic disorder: to continue or discontinue? A naturalistic study.

Objective: Little is known about maintenance treatment for panic disorder. The purpose of this naturalistic study is to compare outcomes of remitted panic disorder patients continued on versus those successfully discontinued from maintenance medication.

Methods: After 3 years of sustained remission with medication in a naturalistic setting, 168 patients were continued on, whereas 37 successfully discontinued from medication.