OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to clarify the clinical characteristics of late-onset panic disorder (PD) compared to early-onset PD in symptoms frequency, severity, and quality of life. METHODS: 516 patients with PD were included in this study. Patients with PD onset at 60 or after were grouped (late-onset), and compared with the group with onset at 20 or earlier (early-onset). The following instruments were applied : Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Panic Disorder Severity Scale, Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire, Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory-Revised, and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey. SPSS version 21.0 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Late-onset PD was 4.84% of all PD patients, and the mean age was 64.68+/-4.36 years. Late-onset PD exhibited fewer panic symptoms and scored lower on most scales assessing clinical severity. However, the panic-related symptoms severity showed significant negative correlations with scores of quality of life, especially in physical functioning subscale, among the late-onset PD patients. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that less severe panic symptoms may contribute to underdiagnosing PD in this elderly population. However, the panic-related symptoms severity plays an important role in quality of life among the late-onset PD patients. It suggests to implement specific strategies considering the age at onset in clinical approach among patients with PD.
Aged ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Panic Disorder* ; Panic* ; Phobic Disorders ; Quality of Life ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine psychological characteristics of patients who visited psychiatric clinic for medical certificate for military service using MMPI-2-RF. We compared target group with general psychiatric patients with same age range. METHODS: A total of 165 male patients for medical certificate and 154 general psychiatric patients were collected from the Department of Psychiatry of three university hospitals. There were significant differences of age and educational level between two groups. We used independent t-test, ANCOVA, χ² test to examine differences between two groups. RESULTS: Medical certificate group scored higher on the validity scales, the Higher-Order(H-O) scales, the Restructured Clinical(RC) Scales, the Specific Problems(SP) Scales, and the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) Scales. Especially, EID, RC7, HLP, SFD, SAV, SHY, DSF, and INTR-r showed significant differences between two groups on all three statistical tests. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that psychiatric patients who received psychological evaluation for military service have significantly higher emotional distress, helplessness, lower self-confidence, and lower quality of interpersonal relationships. And the difference of validity scales between two groups could be related with psychological burden of compulsory military service in the study sample which causes elevation on scales of infrequent responses. MMPI-2-RF would be helpful instrument to assess these emotional and psychological characteristics.
Affective Symptoms ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Male ; Military Personnel* ; Psychopathology ; Social Isolation ; Weights and Measures