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. 2018 Sep 24;18(1):305.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1894-5.

Suicidal ideation in primary care patients suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia

Tobias Teismann  1 , Karoline Lukaschek  2   3 , Thomas S Hiller  4 , Jörg Breitbart  4 , Christian Brettschneider  5 , Ulrike Schumacher  6 , Jürgen Margraf  7 , Jochen Gensichen  2   4 ; Jena Paradies Study Group
Affiliations

Suicidal ideation in primary care patients suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia

Tobias Teismann et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Suicidal ideation is common in patients suffering from panic disorder. The present study investigated rates of suicidal ideation and risk factors for suicidal ideation in a sample of primary care patients suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia.

Methods: A total of N = 296 patients [n = 215 (72.6%) women; age: M = 43.99, SD = 13.44] were investigated. Anxiety severity, anxiety symptoms, avoidance behavior, comorbid depression diagnosis, severity of depression, age, sex, employment status, living situation and frequency of visits at the general practitioner were considered as risk factors of suicidal ideation.

Results: Suicidal ideation was experienced by 25% of the respondents. In a logistic regression analysis, depression diagnosis and depression severity emerged as significant risk factors for suicidal ideation. Anxiety measures were not associated with suicidal ideation.

Conclusion: Suicidal ideation is common in primary care patients suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Individuals with greater burden of mental illness in terms of mood disorder comorbidity and depressive symptomatology are especially likely to suffer from suicidal ideation.

Keywords: Agoraphobia; Panic disorder; Primary care; Suicidal ideation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Friedrich- Schiller-University at the Medical Faculty (Jena, Germany). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients before study intake.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. All authors had financial support from BMBF for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 3 years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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