Alexithymia, mental health, and painkiller use among healthcare professionals

Abstract

Background: The frequency of alexithymia among healthcare professionals is poorly understood. However, alexithymia is a construct of interest in health psychology due to its numerous negative associations with mental health.

Aim: The aim of this paper was to estimate the frequency of alexithymia among healthcare professionals in intensive care units and emergency services and to identify the relationship between alexithymia, coping strategies, mental health and painkiller consumption.

Method: This study was a cross-sectional online survey conducted among healthcare professionals in French hospitals. It assessed alexithymia (TAS-20), anxiety, depression, stress (DASS-21), burnout (MBI-HSS), coping strategies (Brief-COPE), pain and painkiller consumption. Latent profile analyses identified alexithymia profiles, and chi-square tests compared mental health and coping strategies across them.

Results: Among the 145 professionals, 14.5 % are alexithymic (score ≥ 61), with a frequency reaching 19.7 % among medical professionals. Alexithymic individuals did not consume more analgesics overall but consumed more type 2 analgesics compared to non-alexithymic individuals, p = .039. Those with the highest alexithymia scores also exhibited high levels of anxiety (p < .001), depression (p < .001), stress (p < .001), and burnout (ps < 0.008). They more frequently used avoidance (p < .001) and less frequently used positive reappraisal (p < .001) and problem-solving (p = .001).

Conclusions: It is therefore essential for healthcare professionals to become aware of the existence of this construct in themselves and its consequences for both their mental health and the quality and safety of care.

Keywords: Alexithymia; Coping strategies; Healthcare professionals; Mental health; Painkiller consumption.