Aim and Background: Alexithymia or emotional inhibition is an important risk factor for psychosomatic disorders such as gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the dimensions of alexithymia with depression and anxiety in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID). Methods and Materials: In a descriptive-correlation study, 129 patients were selected from patients with FGID referred to digestive clinic of the Noor hospital in Isfahan (during 5 months in 2008). They were investigated using Toronto Alexithymia scale , hospital anxiety and depression scale and gastrointestinal symptom rating scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Findings: Only the dimension of “difficulty in identifying feelings” has a significant positive correlation with depression, anxiety and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms in FGID patients. This dimension is predictor variance of depression, anxiety and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms. Conclusions: The study emphasizes on the role of alexithymia especially the dimension of “ difficulty in identifying feelings” to understand the psychopathology of FGID. So, it seems that assessment and considering it as an effective factor in the treatment of these patients is essential.
Aim and Background: The purpose of this study was to compare patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) and normal persons in terms of alexithymia, severity of gastrointestinal symptoms, and demographic variables. Methods and Materials: This causal-comparative research included 129 FGID patients who were referred to a psychosomatic disorders clinic in Isfahan, Iran. A matched group of 108 healthy individuals (without digestive diagnoses) was also considered as the control group. Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20) and gastrointestinal symptoms rating scale (GSRS) were used to evaluate the participants. Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance, correlation coefficient and Fisher's Z test. Findings: There was a significant difference between patients with FGIDs and healthy controls in terms of number of alexithymia symptoms and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms. The results also indicated a relationship between education level and alexithymia as well as its dimensions (difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings) in both groups. However, no significant differences were found between the two groups in this regard. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated that patients with FGIDs had higher scores of alexithymia and more severe somatic symptoms compared to the healthy control group. Furthermore, higher education levels were associated with lower risks of alexithymia. Such a finding might have been due to the higher ability of more educated patients in describing and identifying emotions.
