SYMPOSIA

Poster Presentations
behavior by experiencing anticipatory anxiety for further attacks. According to the DSM-IV-TR, panic disorders are divided into two types:
with and without agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder in which there are repeated attacks of intense fear and anxiety, and
a fear of being in places where escape might be difficult, or where help might not be available, and it results in obvious avoidance of
feared places and situations. Panic attack is characterized by intense anxiety that occurs unexpectedly and spontaneously, accompanied
by somatic and cognitive symptoms. A marked deterioration can be observed in patients’ functions, particularly due to the anticipatory
anxiety and avoidance behaviors (1,2). The cognitive rationale of panic disorder is linked to a catastrophic interpretation of bodily
sensations. Negative and anxiety-related processes of thought such as heart attack, cerebral hemorrhage, and loss of control are effective
in the origin of panic attacks due to a catastrophic interpretation (3). The objective of our study was to identify clinical characteristics
involved in the onset and maintenance of this disorder in patients who presented to a training and research hospital.
Method: The study included 101 consecutive patients with panic disorder who presented to the clinics at the Bakirköy Hospital for
Mental and Neurological Disorders, met the inclusion criteria, volunteered to participate in the study, and provided informed consent.
The diagnosis was made by two psychiatrists, who were not involved in the study. The diagnosis was confirmed using the Structured
Clinical Interview Form for the DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I). The patients filled in a sociodemographic form, which examined clinical
characteristics of the disease in detail, including the identifiable life events triggering the disease and the environmental conditions where
the attacks developed, taking the SCID-I clinical interview guide into consideration.
Results: The mean age of participants was 36.73 ± 9.42 years (min: 19, max: 58 years). The mean age of onset was 29.94 ± 9.17 years,
and the mean duration of disease was 6.73 ± 7.65 years. The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants are outlined in Table 1.
Distribution of the complaints listed in accordance with the DSM-IV-TR panic disorder criteria by their incidence is provided in Table 2 (only
the first 3 criteria among the DSM-IV-TR panic disorder criteria were included in the assessments). The clinical characteristics of patients
specific to panic disorder are shown in Table 3.
Discussion: Understanding the clinical characteristics specific to panic disorder, which have a significant impact on the functioning
of a person due to escape, avoidance, and safety seeking behaviors as a result of a catastrophic interpretation of bodily sensations, is
important in conceptualization and therapeutic interventions of the disorder.
In the present study, the population was not well reflected in terms of gender as participants were consecutively enrolled from the clinics
of a training and research hospital. It was a single-center study, and Axis I and II comorbidities were not evaluated. We believe that further
studies eliminating such limitations would be beneficial.
Key words: Panic disorder, panic symptoms, avoiding behavior
Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology 2011;21(Suppl. 2):S121-2
[PP-003] Ref. No: 141
Effect of calcium in treatment of premenstrual syndrome
Mandana Zafari, Azar Aghamohammadi
Department of Midwifery Group, Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch, Sari, Iran
E-mail: mandanazafari@iausari.ac.ir
Purpose: The occurrence of menses is a natural and biological event, which is experienced by half of the human race for about 30 years of
life. This natural phenomenon is often surrounded by vagary, delusions, and negative views, and for some women menses means disorder,
wound or mental and physical impurity. This feeling is matched with premenstrual stress and its destructive complications overshadow
the lives of these women. This syndrome as an unsolvable problem lasting during a significant portion of human life and causes family
problems, misbehaviour with children, problems at work, or absences from work. All of these consequences have caused the public media
to pay much attention to this syndrome in recent years. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of calcium in the treatment
of premenstrual syndrome.
Method: This study was done using a semi-experimental method, among all of medical students at the Medical School of Mazandaran,
who filled in the questionnaire to diagnose this syndrome (Rosignol Bonlender Questionnaire) during a period of 3 months. This
questionnaire included demographic information, entrance and omission criteria, check paper, and a symptom list of Rosignol Bolender.
A total of 200 girls who suffered from the moderate or severe form of this syndrome were selected randomly and divided in two groups.
The first group (100 girls) took 100 mg /day of calcium for 7 days at the end of their cycle and the second group (100 girls) took placebo
for 7 days at the end of their cycle. The duration of the treatment was 3 months. After the treatment, the severity of physical and mental
symptoms was compared. Also the comparison after the intervention was done in two groups.
Results: Based on the independent sample test, these two groups were homogeneous with respect to age (p = 0.233, based on
independent sample test ), education level (p = 0.328, based on x2 tests , length of menstrual cycle (p = 0.245), based on independent
S122 Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol: 21, Supplement: 2, 2011 - www.psikofarmakoloji.org