Hyperventilation symptoms and their relationship to panic

Symptom overlap between the Hyperventilation Syndrome (HVS) and Panic Disorder (PD) has been noted by many investigators; however, the reasons for this association are unclear. By following 50 college subjects (36 fema le and 14 male) who displa yed extremely high rates of hyperventilation symptoms over four-week to nine-month intervals, symptom stability patterns as well as the relationship to panic attacks were examined. Rates of overlap between hyperventi lation symptoms and panic attacks was 66% in the current sa~ple. Furthermore, 4 of 50 (8%) of pani cfr ee sub j ects developed panic attacks during the course of the investigation. Although the frequency of hyperventilation symptoms decreased over time for most subjects, many individuals continued to be symptomatic over time. One potential mechanism of association between hyperventilation and panic (i.e., focus on either somatic or somatic plus cognitive symptoms of hyperventilation) was not supported, and several personality variables (repression and anxiety sensitivity) were not found to influence the relationship between hyperventilation and panic. Finally, measurement issues related to a hyperventilation symptom questionna ire were addre ssed. The two-week test-retest