Joint Hypermobility and Panic Disorder

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I have this article if anyone wants it, I am not sure, but I may have posted

it previously.

Association Between Joint Hypermobility Syndrome and Panic Disorder

By

Rocío Martín-Santos, M.D., Bulbena, M.D., M.Sc.(Cantab.), Miquel

Porta, M.D., M.P.H., Jordi Gago, M.D., Lluís Molina, M.D., and C. Duró,

M.D.

Abstract:

Objective:The purpose of this study was to assess whether joint

hypermobility syndrome is more frequent in patients with panic disorder,

agoraphobia, or both than in control subjects and, if so, to determine

whether mitral valve prolapse modifies or accounts in part for the

association.Method:A case-control study was conducted in a general teaching

hospital outpatient clinic. Subjects were 99 patients, newly diagnosed and

untreated, with panic disorder, agoraphobia, or both and two groups of age-

and sex-matched control subjects: 99 psychiatric patients and 64 medical

patients who had never suffered from any anxiety disorder. Measures

consisted of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, Beighton's

criteria for joint hypermobility syndrome, and two-dimensional and M-mode

echocardiogram. The presence of mitral valve prolapse and joint

hypermobility syndrome was explored by raters who were blind to subjects'

psychiatric status.Results:Joint hypermobility syndrome was found in 67.7%

of patients with anxiety disorder but in only 10.1% of psychiatric and 12.5%

of medical control subjects. On the basis of statistical analysis, patients

with anxiety disorder were over 16 times more likely than control subjects

to have joint laxity. These findings were not altered after the presence of

mitral valve prolapse was taken into account. Of the patients with anxiety

disorder, those who had joint hypermobility syndrome were younger and more

often women and had an earlier onset of the disorder than those without

joint hypermobility syndrome. Conclusions:Joint laxity is highly prevalent

in patients with panic disorder, agoraphobia, or both and may reflect a

constitutional disposition to suffer from anxiety. Mitral valve prolapse

plays a secondary role in the association between joint hypermobility and

anxiety. Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155: 1578-1583