According to the Field Representative's Manual for 1999, this set of questions on panic attacks was included "to determine if the Sample Adult has attacks when they suddenly feel frightened, anxious, or very uneasy; whether they occurred in a life-threatening situation; how many attacks in the past year and when was the most recent one; did they happen when the Sample Adult was not in danger or the center of attention; and what other physical reactions occurred when they were having these attacks."

For information on other screening questions for panic attack, see PANICYR, PANICNOTHRET, and PANICNODANGR. Only persons who had at least one panic attack in the past 12 months that occurred in a non-life-threatening situation and when they were neither in danger nor the center of attention were asked about panic attack symptoms.

For more information on the CIDI-SF screening scale for panic attack and for instructions on how to calculate panic attack scores, see PANICYR.