ABSTRACT
The establishment of operational criteria for the diagnosis of panic disorder was followed by an attempt for a more unified approach in research – pharmacological or psychological. The selection of the most relevant clinical and social aspects of the condition, and the choice of appropriate outcome measures for them, which should be used in as many studies as possible, would lead to an easier interpretation of the results and a more general applicability of the findings. Various consensus panels of experts have tried to address this issue in recent years. Despite their efforts and the production of guidelines, the situation is still not satisfactory, so it is sometimes difficult to determine the relative merits of different treatments (Weise et al 1996).
