Is alexithymia a separate dimension in schizophrenia?

Objective: The aim of this research is to study the structural features of alexithymia dimension in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, the relation between alexithymia, depression and negative symptoms, which overlap in terms of schizophrenia clinical presentation, and to find out whether they differ from one another. Methods: The study has been conducted with 208 outpatients treated at the Outpatient Clinic of schizophrenia of the Erenköy Mental Health and Neurological Diseases Training and Research Hospital. Patients with schizophrenia were evaluated via the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Calgary Schizophrenia Depression Scale, the Global Assessmentof Functioning (GAF) and 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Findings: Alexithymia rate was found to be 36.7% in patients with schizophrenia. Alexithymia was found to be associated with negative symptoms and clinical variables. In the control group with A+ (alexithymic schizophrenia), the age of onset was earlier than in the A-(non-alexithymic schizophrenia) group and the average scores of the GAF were lower. Conclusion: In this study, Alexithymia in schizophrenia was found different from negative symptoms and depression in terms of dimension. TAS, which has three subscales, is factored into two subscales (difficulty identifying feelings (TAS-A) and difficulty describing feelings (TAS-B)) in patients with schizophrenia. Clinicians may use TAS-11, 14 versions or existing 20-item version for the assessment of alexithymia among schizophrenic patients. Assessment of alexithymia as a separate dimension has the potential to offer a new approach to understand the neurobiology and treatment of schizophrenia.

Aleksitimi şizofrenide ayrı bir boyut mu?

Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı şizofreni hastalarında aleksitimi boyutunun yapısal özelliklerini, şizofreni klinik görünümünde örtüşen aleksitimi, depresyon ve negatif belirtilerin nasıl bir ilişki içerisinde olduklarını ve birbirlerinden ayrışıp ayrışmadıklarını araştırmaktır. Yöntem: Çalışma Erenköy Ruh ve Sinir Hastalıkları Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Şizofreni Polikliniği’nde ayaktan tedavi gören 208 hastayla yapıldı. Şizofreni hastaları Pozitif ve Negatif Sendrom Ölçeği, Calgary Şizofrenide Depresyon Ölçeği, İşlevselliğin Genel Değerlendirmesi (İGD) ve 20 maddelik Toronto Aleksitimi Ölçeği (TAÖ) ile değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Şizofreni hastalarında aleksitimi %36.7 oranında bulundu. Aleksitimi negatif belirtiler ve klinik değişkenlerle ilişkili bulundu. A+ (aleksitimik şizofreni) kontrol grubunda, A- (aleksitimik olmayan şizofreni) grubuna göre hastalık başlangıç yaşı daha erkendi ve ortalama İGD puanları daha düşüktü. Sonuç: Şizofrenide aleksitimi boyut olarak negatif belirti ve depresyondan farklıdır. Üç alt ölçeğe sahip olan TAÖ, şizofreni hastalarında iki alt ölçek (duygularını tanımada güçlük (TAÖ-A) ve duyguları söze dökmede güçlük (TAÖ-B)) olarak boyutlanmaktadır. Klinisyenler, şizofreni hastalarında aleksitimiyi değerlendirmek için TAS11, 14 veya mevcut 20 maddelik sürümleri kullanabilirler. Aleksitiminin ayrı bir boyut olarak değerlendirilmesi, şizofreninin nörobiyolojisini ve tedavisini anlamak için yeni bir yaklaşım sunma potansiyeline sahiptir.

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