Course of panic disorder during the early postpartum period: a prospective analysis

Abstract

Purpose Most of the studies about course of panic disorder (PD) after childbirth have a retrospective nature. The aim of the current study was to examine prospectively the clinical course of 13 pregnant women with a diagnosis of PD across pregnancy and the early postpartum period. Method The diagnosis of PD was determined by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Axis I Disorders in the third trimester of pregnancy. Within the same period, the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale was used to determine the severity of PD. The last assessment with both instruments was performed at 6 weeks postnatally. Results Of these 13 women, 6 (group 1) reported that PD developed during the 6th to the 28th week of their gestation, and the number of women who experienced PD symptoms before pregnancy (group 2) was 7. It was found that the severity of panic symptoms considerably decreased in the total sample, group 1, and group 2 from the basal levels to 6 weeks postnatally. Conclusion Our study results suggest that pregnant women with PD may experience a marked improvement in PD symptoms in the early postpartum period.