Alexithymia in Chinese chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients: The prevalence and related factors of alexithymia

In this study, 53 Chinese COPD moderate outpatients and 50 health controls, matched for age, family income and education level, were recruited to assess the prevalence of Alexithymia and its relationship to socio-demographic factors and pulmonary function. Alexithymia was measured with 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS–20). The patients’ socio-demographic variables and the forced expiratory volume in one second percentage of predicted (FEV1% predicted) were recorded. The results indicated that alexithymia was significantly more common in the Chinese COPD patients than in controls. Male patients presented higher TAS-20 total scores and externally oriented thinking (EOT) scores than the females. Elder age and higher family income were connected with the patients’ lower TAS-20 indexes (except for difficulty identify feeling [DIF]). All the TAS-20 indexes were negatively associated with FEV1% predicted. These findings suggested that, in the management of COPD, alexithymia feature should not be ignored and the appropriate psychotherapeutic treatment for Alexithymia should be applied.