Somatization and alexithymia in patients with depressive disorder

YANG Cheng-jia; XU Ming-zhi

Abstract：Objective To examine the alexithymia features of patients with depressive disorder and to investigate the associations between alexithymia and somatization .Methods 113 patients with depressive disorder and 100 healthy controls were included.The Chinese version of the 20 -item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS -20), Patient Health Ques-tionnaire (PHQ -15), and the 17 -item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD -17) were applied for analysis.Results Compared with controls, patients with depressive disorder showed significantly higher scores in TAS -20 and PHQ -15 (P <0.05).Among the scores of TAS -20, Factor 1 (difficulty in identifying feelings) and Factor 3 (externally oriented thinking) were gradually increased as the increased severity of somatization (P <0.05).In all three factors of alexithy-mia, Factor 1 was strongly correlated with symptoms of pain on body (including back and arms /legs/joints) and tire (r =0.211, r =0.434, P <0.05), while Factor 3 was strongly correlated with discomfort of digestive system and head (r =0.192, r =0.388, P <0.05).According to multiple linear regression, Factor 1 (β=0.220, 95%CI 20.55 ~22.28), Factor 3 (β=0.216, 95%CI 21.32 ~22.76) and HAMD -17 total scores (β=0.334, 95%CI 21.54 ~23.79) were the potential risk factors of somatic complains (R2 =0.238).Conclusion These results suggest that patients with de -pressive disorder have significant somatic amplifications .Alexithymia may be an affecting factor of the somatization symp -toms of depression.