Alexithymia for cardiologists: a clinical approach to the patient

Montisci, Roberta; Sancassiani, Federica; Marchetti, Maria Francesca; Biddau, Mattia; Carta, Mauro Giovanni; Meloni, Luigi

doi:10.2459/jcm.0000000000001487

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 38 publications

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“…Peter Sifneos coined the term, which means "no words for mood" to describe a cluster of cognitive and affective characteristics, including "operational thinking", initially observed among patients with psychosomatic diseases [7]. Several recent studies have demonstrated an important relationship between alexithymia and psychiatric disorders, drug abuse, personality disorders, and various medical diseases [8][9][10][11]. Currently, the frequency of alexithymia ranges between 9 and 23% in the general population, according to several studies [12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia, Burnout, and Hopelessness in a Large Sample of Healthcare Workers during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Italy

De Berardis,

Ceci,

Zenobi

et al. 2023

Brain Sciences

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In the present study, we aimed to assess the frequency of and the relationships between alexithymia, burnout, and hopelessness in a large sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the third wave of COVID-19 in Italy. Alexithymia was evaluated by the Italian version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and its subscales Difficulty in Identifying Feelings (DIF), Difficulty in Describing Feelings (DDF), and Externally Oriented Thinking (EOT), burnout was measured with the scales emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA) of the Maslach Burnout Test (MBI), hopelessness was measured using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and irritability (IRR), depression (DEP), and anxiety (ANX) were evaluated with the Italian version of the Irritability‚ Depression‚ Anxiety Scale (IDA). This cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 1445 HCWs from a large urban healthcare facility in Italy from 1 May to 31 June 2021. The comparison between individuals that were positive (n = 214, 14.8%) or not for alexithymia (n = 1231, 85.2%), controlling for age, gender, and working seniority, revealed that positive subjects showed higher scores on BHS, EE, DP IRR, DEP, ANX, DIF, DDF, and EOT and lower on PA than the not positive ones (p < 0.001). In the linear regression model, higher working seniority as well as higher EE, IRR, DEP, ANX, and DDF scores and lower PA were associated with higher hopelessness. In conclusion, increased hopelessness was associated with higher burnout and alexithymia. Comprehensive strategies should be implemented to support HCWs’ mental health and mitigate the negative consequences of alexithymia, burnout, and hopelessness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia, Burnout, and Hopelessness in a Large Sample of Healthcare Workers during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Italy

De Berardis,

Ceci,

Zenobi

et al. 2023

Brain Sciences

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Visual Analysis of Research Hotspots of Alexithymia in the Elderly

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2023

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Alexithymia and estimated 10-year cardiovascular disease risk in healthy adults: a community-based cross-sectional study

Vadini,

Lanzara,

Iuliani

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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BackgroundThis cohort study aimed to explore whether and to what extent alexithymia would be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk over an estimated 10-year period, over and above established clinical cofactors (i.e., depressive symptoms, quality of life, sociodemographic, anthropometric, lifestyle, and biological data), in a low-risk population of blood donors.MethodsA sample of 1,021 adult Italian blood donors (age 46.9 ± 8.39; 61.2% men) was consecutively recruited. The 10-year-CVD risk score was estimated using the CUORE risk score (CRS). Sociodemographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, biological, and psychological (i.e., quality of life, depressive symptoms, and alexithymia) CVD risk data were assessed using validated self-report measures or clinical records.ResultsAs expected, most participants (78.5%) had a low CVD risk (CRS < 3%) and an overall low-risk profile for all the parameters. Compared with subjects at low risk of CVD (n = 911, 78.5%), those with high risk (i.e., rated ≥3 on CUORE risk assessment; n = 250, 21.5%) reported higher levels of alexithymia (p < 0.001). Subjects with higher alexithymia (n = 236, 23.1%) reported higher levels of psychosocial impairment, depressive symptoms, and biological risk variables for CVD. Alexithymia was significantly associated with 10-year CVD risk (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.01–1.04, p = 0.009), even after adjusting for key sociodemographic and clinical risk variables.ConclusionAlthough limited by the cross-sectional design, this study is the first to show that alexithymia leads to a higher risk for 10-year CVD estimate in healthy subjects with low-risk profile, regardless of known biomarkers and traditional CVD risk factors.

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Alexithymia for cardiologists: a clinical approach to the patient

Cited by 3 publications

References 38 publications

Alexithymia, Burnout, and Hopelessness in a Large Sample of Healthcare Workers during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Italy

Alexithymia, Burnout, and Hopelessness in a Large Sample of Healthcare Workers during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Italy

Visual Analysis of Research Hotspots of Alexithymia in the Elderly

Alexithymia and estimated 10-year cardiovascular disease risk in healthy adults: a community-based cross-sectional study

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