Background
The biological mechanisms underlying the link between smoking and panic attacks are
unknown. Smoking might increase the risk of panic by impairing respiratory system
function.
Methods
We evaluated the effect of smoking on respiratory irregularity in patients with panic
disorder (PD) and healthy comparison subjects and the role of the respiratory disorders
in this effect. We applied the Approximate Entropy index (ApEn), a nonlinear measure
of irregularity, to study breath-by-breath baseline respiratory patterns in our sample.
Results
Both smoker and nonsmoker patients had more irregular respiratory patterns than healthy
subjects. Smoker patients showed higher ApEn indices of baseline respiratory rate
and tidal volume than nonsmoker patients (R = 5.4, df = 2,55, p < .01), whereas smoking
in healthy subjects did not influence the regularity of respiratory patterns. Respiratory
disorders did not account for the influence of smoking on respiratory irregularity.
Smokers had more severe panic attacks than nonsmokers.
Conclusions
Smoking may impair vulnerable respiratory function and act as disruptive factor on
intrinsic baseline respiratory instability in patients with PD, possibly influencing
the onset or maintenance of the disorder.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 19, 2004
Accepted:
June 14,
2004
Received in revised form:
March 17,
2004
Received:
January 14,
2004
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
