Alexithymia in Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

The control group was similar with respect to age, gender and education with the diabetic group. In the diabetic study population (n=193, male/female: 42/58%, age 54.2 +/- 14.0 years, median diabetes duration 7 years (1-32 years), postprandial blood glucose (PBG) 243 +/- 110 mg/dl HbA1 c 7.3 +/- 3.6%) prevalence of alexithymia was significantly higher than in the control group (65 % in diabetics vs. 45 % in controls, p=0.011; mean TAS-26 score 12.3 +/- 3.7 vs. 10.6 +/- 3.6, p=0.004, respectively). Poor postprandial glycaemic control (p=0.002), female gender (p=0.026), combination therapy (p=0.037) and poor educational level (p=0.005) were positively associated with TAS-26 scores in diabetic individuals. Alexithymic diabetic patients were less educated (OR=1.2, p=0.046) and under worse glycaemic control (OR=2.4, p=0.005) compared to their non-alexithymic counterparts.