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Alexithymia In Multiple Sclerosis: Relationship With Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

M. Ben Abdallah ,
I. Baati ,
A. Zouari ,
F. Guermazi ,
S. Hentati ,
N. Farhat  and
J. Masmoudi
M. Ben Abdallah*
Affiliation:
CHU Hedi CHaker hospital Sfax Tunisia, Department Of Psychiatry (a), Sfax, Tunisia
I. Baati
Affiliation:
CHU Hedi CHaker hospital Sfax Tunisia, Department Of Psychiatry (a), Sfax, Tunisia
A. Zouari
Affiliation:
CHU Hedi CHaker hospital Sfax Tunisia, Department Of Psychiatry (a), Sfax, Tunisia
F. Guermazi
Affiliation:
CHU Hedi CHaker hospital Sfax Tunisia, Department Of Psychiatry (a), Sfax, Tunisia
S. Hentati
Affiliation:
CHU Hedi CHaker hospital Sfax Tunisia, Department Of Psychiatry (a), Sfax, Tunisia
N. Farhat
Affiliation:
Habib Bourguiba University Hospital, Department Of Neurology, Sfax, Tunisia
J. Masmoudi
Affiliation:
CHU Hedi CHaker hospital Sfax Tunisia, Department Of Psychiatry (a), Sfax, Tunisia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Alexithymia, the lack of words to express emotions, is a common problem in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Objectives

To investigate the prevalence of alexithymia in patients with MS and to evaluate the factors related to it, including depression.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, which took place in the neurology department in Sfax (Tunisia). It involved MS outpatients in remission phase. Data collection was done using a form exploring sociodemographic, clinical and radiological characteristics. We used the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) to evaluate neurological impairments, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to assess alexithymia, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess depressive symptoms.

Results

Our study included 93 patients. They were married in 57% of cases. The total number of relapses ranged from 1 to 30, with a median of 5. The EDSS score ranged from 0 to 8. A temporal lesion on brain imaging was found in 29% of cases. MS patients had alexithymia in 58.1% of cases and depression in 26.9% of cases. Alexithymia was more frequent in unmarried patients (p = 0.028). Among clinical and radiological factors, the number of relapses was higher (p = 0.035), and temporal lesion was more frequent in alexithymic patients (p = 0.045). In this study, alexithymic patients were more depressed (p < 10-3).

Conclusions

According to our results, depression and alexithymia were found to be significantly inter-related in MS. Future longitudinal studies might better clarify the nature of this relationship in MS patients.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

multiple sclerosisDepressionalexithymia
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S457
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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