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. 2023 Jun;27(6):1926-1941.
doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03926-9. Epub 2022 Nov 11.

Alexithymia Among People Living with HIV: A Scoping Review

Agata Benfante  1 , Annunziata Romeo  2
Affiliations

Alexithymia Among People Living with HIV: A Scoping Review

Agata Benfante et al. AIDS Behav. 2023 Jun.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

The present scoping review aimed to identify studies that investigated alexithymia, defined as a difficulty in identifying and describing one's own emotions, in people living with HIV (PLWH).A literature search, in line with the guidelines of PRISMA-ScR, was conducted in the following bibliographic databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. The databases were queried using the following strings (using Boolean operators): ("alexithymia" OR "alexithymic") AND ("HIV" OR "Human Immunodeficiency Virus"). In line with the eligibility criteria, fourteen articles were found.Ten studies showed the involvement of alexithymia in disease severity (e.g., viral load levels), and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Three studies revealed an association between alexithymia and cardiovascular disease, and three studies highlighted the implication of alexithymia in cognitive impairment.This review revealed the complex role of alexithymia in HIV disease. A careful clinical assessment of the emotional regulation process of PLWH can provide useful prognostic information.

La presente revisión panorámica está orientada a identificar estudios que han investigado la alexitimia, definida como la dificultad de identificar y describir las propias emociones, en personas que conviven con el VIH.Siguiendo las directrices de PRISMA-ScR, se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica en las siguientes bases de datos: PubMed, PsycINFO y Web of Science. Las bases de datos se consultaron utilizando las siguientes cadenas (utilizando el operador Boolean): (“alexithymia” OR “alexithymic”) AND (“HIV” OR “Human Immunodeficiency Virus”).De acuerdo con los criterios de elegibilidad, se encontraron catorce artículos. Específicamente, diez estudios mostraron la implicación de la alexitimia en la gravedad de la enfermedad (por ejemplo, niveles de carga viral) y la adherencia a la terapia antirretroviral, tres estudios revelaron la asociación entre la alexitimia y la enfermedad cardiovascular, y tres estudios resaltaron la implicación de la alexitimia en el deterioro cognitivo.Esta revisión reveló el complejo rol de la alexitimia en la enfermedad del VIH. Una evaluación clínica detallada del proceso de regulación emocional de las personas que viven con el VIH puede proporcionar información útil para el pronóstico.

Keywords: HIV infection; alexithymia; emotional regulation, scoping review.

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