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Alexithymia in sleep disorder patients.

Author

  • Lars-Gunnar Lundh
  • J.E Broman

Summary, in English

The purpose of the present study was to study associations between self-assessed alexithymia and sleep disorders. Five groups of patients with different sleep disorders were compared on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). The prevalence of alexithymia, as defined by the cut-off score of TAS >60 was 17% among all patients, but differed among the groups: Primary Insomnia (PRI, n = 119) 6.7%, Insomnia related to Another Mental Disorder (IMD, n = 98) 20.4%, Insomnia due to a General Medical Condition (IGM, n = 38) 8.1%, Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS, n = 40) 17.5%, and Periodic Limb Movements during Sleep (PLMS, n = 42) 14.3%. The results diverged with regard to the three TAS Factors. On Factor 1 (Difficulties Identifying Feelings) the IMD group scored significantly higher than all the other groups. On Factor 2 (Difficulties Describing Feelings) the IMD and OSAS groups scored higher than the PRI and IGM groups. And finally, on Factor 3 (Externally Oriented Thinking), the OSAS and PLMS groups scored higher than the insomnia groups.

Publishing year

2003

Language

English

Pages

100-100

Publication/Series

The Third International Conference on the (Non) Expression of Emotions in Health and Disease. Tilburg, the Netherlands, October 19–21, 2003

Document type

Conference paper

Topic

  • Psychology

Conference name

The Third International Conference on the (Non) Expression of Emotions in Health and Disease

Conference date

2003-10-19 - 2003-10-21

Conference place

Netherlands

Status

Published