de Vroege, Lars, Emons, Wilco H M, Sijtsma, Klaas et al. (1 more author) (2018) Alexithymia has no clinically relevant association with outcome of multimodal treatment tailored to needs of patients suffering from somatic symptom and related disorders:A Clinical Prospective Study. Frontiers in psychiatry. 292. ISSN 1664-0640
Abstract
IntroductionAlexithymia may moderate the effectiveness of treatment and may predict impaired general functioning of patients suffering from somatic symptom and related disorders (SSRD). AimWe compared alexithymia levels in a clinical prospective study with 234 consecutive patients suffering from SSRD from the Centre of Excellence for Body, Mind, and Health, Tilburg using the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire, with general population norm scores. Second, we explored treatment outcomes of a multimodal treatment tailored to patient needs by Shared Decision Making (SDM) and Patient Related Outcome Monitoring (PROM) in patients with SSRD. Third, we explored whether alexithymia is associated with treatment outcome. Fourth, we explored if the presence of a chronic medical condition (e.g., diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases) affects the association of alexithymia with treatment outcomes. ResultsCompared to norm scores, SSRD patients showed elevated scores on the subscales identifying, verbalizing, and fantasizing, and on the cognitive dimension. All patients benefited from treatment in terms of anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms. The association of alexithymia with treatment outcome was significant, but the effect size was negligible (range odds ratios 1.02 – 1.25). The association between alexithymia and treatment outcome was stronger in patients suffering from chronic medical conditions compared to patients without chronic medical conditions. However, the effect size of this association was negligible (range odds ratio 0.94 – 1.12).DiscussionAlexithymia scores are elevated in patients with SSRD compared with general population scores, but the level of alexithymia has no clinically relevant association with treatment outcome both in SSRD patients with and without comorbid chronic medical conditions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 de Vroege, Emons, Sijtsma and van der Feltz-Cornelis. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Hull York Medical School (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 18 Jul 2018 15:10 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2025 17:34 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00292 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00292 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:133503 |