Alexithymia in chronic pain patients

Abstract

This article compares the prevalence of alexithymia among chronic pain patients, their spouses, and psychoneurotic outpatients using the Beth Israel Questionnaire (BIQ) and the MMPI subscale for alexithymia. Both instruments showed the pain patients to be significantly more alexithymic than the psychoneurotic controls, but not more alexithymic than their normal spouses. Comparison of the two instruments showed that the MMPI subscale did not correlate highly with the BIQ. When demographic variables were assessed, age was found to be correlated with alexithymia. Theoretical and treatment implications of these findings are discussed.