Evaluation of Alexithymia, Somatosensory Sensitivity, and Health Anxiety Levels in Patients with Noncardiac Chest Pain

Abstract

Objective. Noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) is seen more frequently in young population and in these patients loss of function is evolving in social and professional areas. The aim of the study is to evaluate the levels of anxiety and somatic perception in patients with chest pain presenting to cardiology clinic. Methods. Fifty-one patients with noncardiac chest pain and 51 healthy controls were included in the study. All participants performed self-report based health anxiety inventory (HAI), somatosensory amplification scale (SAS), and Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS). Results. The patient group had significantly higher scores on the SAS, HAI-1, and HAI-T scales compared to controls (P < 0.001, P = 0.006, and P = 0.038, resp.). SAS, HAI-1, and HAI-T scores were significantly higher in female patients than male (P = 0.002, 0.036, and 0.039, resp.). There were significant differences in all TAS subscale scores between two groups. Patients, who had total TAS score more than 50, also presented higher levels of health anxiety (P = 0.045). Conclusions. Anxiety, somatic symptoms, and the exaggerated sense of bodily sensations are common in patients with NCCP. These patients unnecessarily occupy the cardiology outpatient clinics. These negative results can be eliminated when consultation-liaison psychiatry evaluates these patients in collaboration with cardiology departments.

Health anxiety and associated constructs in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease: A CHAMPS cohort study

“…Our current findings are consistent with those of adult populations with certain chronic physical health conditions (i.e. chronic pain, fibromyalgia, Ménière’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and noncardiac chest pain; Bozkurt Zincir et al, 2014; Kehler and Hadjistavropoulos, 2009; Kirby and Yardley, 2009; Rode et al, 2006; Uçar et al, 2015).…”

“…While we have observed growth in the area, we still have a limited understanding of the phenomena, in particular how and if health anxiety is experienced in specialized child or adolescent physical health populations. Health anxiety has been explored and observed in adults with various physical health conditions, such as chronic pain (Rode et al, 2006), fibromyalgia (Uçar et al, 2015), Ménière’s disease (Kirby and Yardley, 2009), multiple sclerosis (Kehler and Hadjistavropoulos, 2009), and noncardiac chest pain (Bozkurt Zincir et al, 2014) demonstrating significantly higher levels of health anxiety compared to controls.…”

Strong Manual Acupuncture Stimulation of “Huantiao” (GB 30) Reduces Pain-Induced Anxiety and p-ERK in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in a Rat Model of Neuropathic Pain

“…Anxiety and depression often coexist with persistent pain [ 1 – 4 ]. In humans, patients with persistent pain frequently suffer from a series of aversive emotions including anxiety, fear, depression, loneliness, and misanthropy, which can be more distressing than the pain itself [ 5 ].…”

Cortical Mechanisms of Visual Hypersensitivity in Women at Risk for Chronic Pelvic Pain

“…Our adaptation of this steady-state method, combined with simultaneous behavioral evaluation of unpleasantness, allowed for experimentally controlled electrophysiological measurements of a stimulus intensity-response over a short time (~2.5 minutes), resulting in a robust small-to-medium effect size ( ). Prior research has mainly relied on questionnaires to evaluate MSH rather than experimental methods ( Jones et al, 2006 ; Yavuz et al, 2013 ; Zincir et al, 2014 ), despite the susceptibility of behavioral ratings of discomfort to retrospective biases ( Redelmeier & Kahneman, 1996 ). Given the visual task’s relatively brief administration, other studies can readily extend our findings to clarify pathophysiology through experimental evaluation of brain-behavior relationships in conjunction with questionnaire-based assessments.…”