Physiological and Cognitive Provocation of Panic Attacks in Panic Disorder Patients

The present study investigated the panic provocation potential of hyperventilation and a purely cognitive manipulation (reading pairs of words) among panic disorder patients (n=41) and normal controls (n=20). Furthermore predictors of response to the two challenges were examined. The results showed that 70.7% of the patients and 5% of the controls experienced a panic attack during the hyperventilation test, and 24.3% of the patients and none of the controls during the cognitive manipulation. Between group comparisons revealed significant differences mainly on the subjective measures. The only predictor of response to the cognitive provocation was panic frequency during baseline, while for response to the hyperventilation test no significant predictor was found. The applicability of hyperventilation and mediating cognitive factors in the aetiology and treatment of panic attacks are discussed.