General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 23, Issue 6, 2001, Pages 337-344

Panic disorder among Vietnamese refugees attending a psychiatric clinic: Prevalence and subtypes (Article)

Hinton D.* , Chau H. , Nguyen L. , Nguyen M. , Pham T. , Quinn S. , Tran M.
  • a Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, Southeast Asian Clinic at North Suffolk Mental Health Center, East Boston, MA, United States, Arbour Counseling, Lowell, MA, United States
  • b Southeast Asian Clinic at North Suffolk Mental Health Center, East Boston, MA, United States
  • c Southeast Asian Clinic at North Suffolk Mental Health Center, East Boston, MA, United States
  • d Arbour Counseling, Lowell, MA, United States
  • e Southeast Asian Clinic at North Suffolk Mental Health Center, East Boston, MA, United States
  • f Arbour Counseling, Lowell, MA, United States
  • g Arbour Counseling, Lowell, MA, United States

Abstract

This study surveys Vietnamese refugees attending two psychiatric clinics to determine both the prevalence of panic disorder (PD) as well as panic attack subtypes in those suffering PD. A culturally valid adaptation of the SCID-panic module (the Vietnamese Panic Disorder Survey or VPDS) was administered to 100 Vietnamese refugees attending two psychiatric clinics. Utilizing culturally sensitive panic probes, the VPDS provides information regarding both the presence of PD and panic attack subtypes during the month prior to interview. Of 100 patients surveyed, 50 (50%) currently suffered PD. Among the 50 patients suffering PD, the most common panic attack subtypes during the previous month were the following: 'orthostatic dizziness' (74% of the 50 panic disorder patients [PDPs]), headache (50% of PDPs), wind-induced/temperature-shift-induced (24% of PDPs), effort-induced (18% of PDPs), gastro-intestinal (16% of PDPs), micturition-induced (8% of PDPs), out-of-the-blue palpitations (24% of PDPs), and out-of-the-blue shortness of breath (16% of PDPs). Five mechanisms are adduced to account for this high PD prevalence as well as the specific profile of subtypes: 1) a trauma-caused panic attack diathesis; 2) trauma-event cues; 3) ethnic differences in physiology; 4) catastrophic cognitions generated by cultural syndromes; and 5) a modification of Clark's spiral of panic. Copyright © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc.

Author Keywords

Vietnamese refugees Panic disorder Catastrophic cognitions Panic disorder subtypes trauma

Index Keywords

rating scale symptomatology Vietnam wind Panic Disorder refugee physiology exercise human Refugees middle aged injury Pressoreceptors panic United States Humans vertigo ethnic difference Motion Sickness headache Vagus Nerve male Urination micturition female cognition Viet Nam standing cultural factor prevalence psychologic test Article gastrointestinal symptom major clinical study adult posttraumatic stress disorder ambulatory care mental hospital temperature dyspnea heart palpitation attitude to health Culture
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0035190621&doi=10.1016%2fS0163-8343%2801%2900163-3&partnerID=40&md5=edeacf71f5ee5bedb075fe8dc3dabea0
DOI: 10.1016/S0163-8343(01)00163-3
ISSN: 01638343
Cited by: 46
Original Language: English