Objective: To compare asthma attacks with panic attacks and identify discriminating symptoms.
Design: Survey, case-control study.
Setting: Tertiary care centers.
Patients: Convenience sample of 71 patients with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, and without medical illnesses; and 71 patients with asthma, cohort-matched from 407 patients to be demographically similar to the panic disorder sample.
Interventions: None.
Main outcome measures: Asthma Symptom Checklist.
Results: Clusters of symptoms reflecting panic-fear and hyperventilation-hypocapnia were more strongly endorsed by subjects with panic disorder, whereas airway obstruction symptom clusters were more strongly descriptive of asthma attacks (all P < .05). Three symptoms differentiated the groups with sensitivity greater than 0.90 and specificity greater than 0.70: wheezing, mucous congestion, and coughing, all being present significantly more among asthma attacks than panic attacks.
Conclusion: Knowledge of what symptoms discriminate asthma attacks from panic attacks may help physicians identify each type of attack in individuals who experience both.