Panic Disorder and Locomotor Activity
Author Information
Author(s): Sakamoto Noriyuki, Yoshiuchi Kazuhiro, Kikuchi Hiroe, Takimoto Yoshiyuki, Kaiya Hisanobu, Kumano Hiroaki, Yamamoto Yoshiharu, Akabayashi Akira
Primary Institution: Department of Stress Sciences and Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Hypothesis
Patients with more severe symptoms such as more frequent attacks and more anxiety have greater amplitude as well as mesor of locomotor activity.
Conclusion
Panic disorder patients with more panic attacks and more anxiety have greater objectively assessed locomotor activity, which may reflect the 'restlessness' of anxiety disorders.
Supporting Evidence
- There were significant positive correlations between the frequency of panic attacks and mesor calculated from double cosinor analysis of locomotor activity (r = 0.55).
- There were significant positive correlations between HAM-A scores and mesor calculated from double cosinor analysis of locomotor activity (r = 0.62).
Takeaway
People with panic disorder who feel more anxious and have more panic attacks tend to move around more, which might show how restless they feel.
Methodology
Sixteen patients with panic disorder wore a wrist-worn activity monitor for two weeks to record panic attacks and measure locomotor activity.
Potential Biases
The influence of medications on the relationship between panic attacks and locomotor activity could not be excluded.
Limitations
The sample size was small, all patients took medications, all had agoraphobia, and there were no healthy controls.
Participant Demographics
16 patients (2 male, 14 female) aged 32.8 ± 5.2 years, all diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.03
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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