Cognitive-behavior therapy for Japanese patients with panic disorder: acute phase and one-year follow-up results.

AIM: The aim of this paper is to report the outcomes and follow-up data of our cognitive behavioral therapy program for Japanese patients with panic disorder and to examine the baseline predictors of their outcomes.

METHODS

Seventy outpatients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia were treated with manualized group cognitive behavioral therapy.

RESULTS

Fourteen patients (20%) did not complete the program. Among the completers, the average Panic Disorder Severity Scale score fell from 12.8 at baseline to 7.1 post-therapy (44.7% reduction). This effectiveness was sustained for 1 year. While controlling for the baseline severity, the duration of illness and the baseline social dysfunction emerged as significant predictors of the outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that group cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder can bring about as much symptom reduction among Japanese patients with panic disorder as among Western patients.