Respiratory and non-respiratory panic disorder subtypes: clinical and quality of life comparisons.

Aim: to compare the scores of the WHOQOL quality of life domains with the clinical features of patients with respiratory and non-respiratory panic disorders (PD) treated at the UFRJ Panic and Respiration Laboratory.

Method: cross sectional study. Thirty-two PD outpatients under treatment were consecutively selected and evaluated by the MINI v.4.4. They were divided into two different groups according to Briggs et al. classification of respiratory and non-respiratory PD subtypes. Twelve (37.5%) patients had the respiratory subtype (SR) and 20 (62.5%) the non-respiratory subtype (SN).

Results: the SN patients presented worse scores in the psychological domain of the WHOQOL. There were no differences between groups in gender, age, level of schooling, occupational status, marital status, smoking and comorbidities. There were no differences in the anxiety questionnaires and PD questionnaire (BAI, STAI-T, STAI-S, PAS) scores and in the age at the beginning of the disorder and the disorder's duration.

Conclusion: non-respiratory subtype patients presented worse scores in the psychological domain of WHOQOL than the respiratory subtype group, when they had similar anxiety and PD scores.