Alexithymia And Related Factors Among Patients With Epilepsy

Objective: Alexithymia is an affective disorder characterized by difficulties in recognizing,expressing,and regulating emotions.Because seizures can lead to significant psychological stress and painful emotions,patients with epilepsy often have multiple comorbid psychiatric symptoms.In addition,alexithymia in patients with epilepsy may lead to difficulties in identifying their own or others’ feelings,inability to accurately describe their emotions,various somatic discomfort,poor social adjustment,and even reduced quality of life.Early identification and intervention of comorbid alexithymia in patients with epilepsy may affect the quality of life,and treatment decisions of patients with epilepsy.The purpose of our study was to investigate the incidence of alexithymia among patients with epilepsy and its relationship with demographic characteristics,clinical features,emotion regulation strategies,and psychiatric symptoms including stigma,depression,generalized anxiety,and suicide risk through self-rating scales.Methods: By the means of a cross-sectional study,we consecutively recruited patients who visited the First Hospital of Jilin University from September 2021 to January 2022.The demographical information and clinical data were collected through structured interviews and medical records.TAS-20,ERQ,KSSE,NDDI-E,GAD-7,and NGASR scales were applied to assess alexithymia,emotion regulation strategies,and psychiatric symptoms（such as stigma,depression,anxiety,and suicide risk）among patients with epilepsy.Results: A total of 203 patients with epilepsy were included in this study,of whom 103（50.7%）were males and 100（49.3%）were females,with a median age of 33 years old.Patients with epilepsy were divided into three groups based on their TAS-20 scale scores:（1）Alexithymia group（（29）61,n=38,18.7%）;（2）Possible alexithymia group（52～60,n=54,26.6%）;（3）Non-alexithymia group（（27）51,n=111,54.7%）,The differences in education,monthly per capita income of the family and number of antiepileptic drugs were statistically significant among the subgroups（p（27）0.05）.TAS-20 scale scores were significantly and positively correlated with BMI in patients with epilepsy（rho=0.143,p=0.042）.In multiple linear regression analysis,expression suppression,stigma,and generalized anxiety were independent risk factors for alexithymia（R2=0.471,F=19.075,p（27）0.001）.Conclusion:（1）A high prevalence of alexithymia（18.7%）was found in patients with epilepsy.（2）Alexithymia in patients with epilepsy is independently associated with anxiety,stigma,and emotion regulation strategies.（3）Alexithymia tends to be somewhat a mood disorder or personality trait rather than a direct result of epilepsy,which is closely related to psychosocial factors.