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Somatic, rather than psychological, symptoms bring many patients with anxiety disorders to the primary care setting. Some of the physiologic concomitants of anxiety have been studied in the laboratory. These researchers, in contrast, monitored patients during their ordinary daily lives.
The 90 participants (76% women, most white) were either healthy volunteers or physically healthy patients who met DSM-IV criteria for generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder. For at least 6 daytime hours on 4 weekdays, subjects wore an ambulatory device that recorded heart interbeat intervals, skin conductance, respirations, and motion every 30 minutes for 6 minutes. During these recording periods, subjects completed self-assessment forms charting thei…