Illness Perception and Alexithymia in Women with Fibromyalgia and Its Relationship to Psychological Distress | ||
| The Egyptian Science Magazine | ||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 09 October 2023 PDF (583.33 K) | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/esm.2023.320689 | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Alexithymia is associated with fibromyalgia. People with difficulty identifying feeling and negative illness perception have difficulty reflecting and regulating their emotions. Also, alexithymia might make difficult for them to verbally communicate their psychological distress as depression and anxiety. Aim of the study: The purpose of the study was to see if there was a link between sickness perception, alexithymia, and psychological distress in women with fibromyalgia. Study Design: In this study, the descriptive-correlated strategy was adopted. Setting: The study was conducted at rheumatology outpatient clinic at Benha University Hospital in Benha City, Qalyubia Governorate. Subjects: Convenience sample of 80 women with Fibromyalgia from the previous study setting. Tools for Data Collection: The data was collected using four tools: Tool (1) Structured Interview Questionnaire Sheet consists of socio-demographic and clinical data, Tool (2) Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Tool (3) Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), and Tool (4) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: Two thirds of the studied women with fibromyalgia have alexithymia, more than half had negative level of illness perceptions, less than half had moderate degree of anxiety and less than half of the sample has moderate level of depression. Findings indicated also, high statistically significant positive correlation between total alexithymia and total psychological distress (anxiety and depression). Also, there is a high statistically significant negative correlation between total illness perception and total psychological distress (anxiety and depression); while there is a high statistically significant negative correlation between total illness perception and total alexithymia. Conclusion: The study concluded that alexithymia had strong positive associations with anxiety. and depression. Also, there is a significant negative predictor of illness perception with anxiety and depression among the studied women. In other words, increasing alexithymia and negative illness perception among patients with fibromyalgia associated with more severe depression and anxiety symptoms. Recommendations: The study recommended psycho-educational intervention programs to reduce the consequences of fibromyalgia syndrome and further study for large group and male patients for generalization of the results. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Alexithymia; Fibromyalgia; Illness; Perception; Distress; Woman | ||
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