# Psychosomatic Features of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The Role of Alexithymia in Patient Health-Related Quality of Life—A Cross-Sectional Study

## TL;DR

This study shows that alexithymia, a difficulty in identifying and expressing emotions, is linked to worse health outcomes in people with irritable bowel syndrome.

## Contribution

The study identifies alexithymia as a key predictor of psychosomatic syndrome severity and reduced health status in IBS patients.

## Key findings

- Alexithymia is positively correlated with psychosomatic syndromes in IBS patients.
- Higher alexithymia scores are associated with lower health-related quality of life.
- Alexithymia predicts increased severity of psychosomatic symptoms in IBS.

## Abstract

Background: Psychological factors such as alexithymia, somatization, and their associated effects on health are consistently observed as key characteristics in the onset, maintenance, and chronic course of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study aimed to investigate the presence and role of alexithymia, psychosomatic syndromes, and health status in individuals affected by IBS. Methods: The sample comprised 143 patients diagnosed with IBS, ranging in age from 18 to 78 years (M = 30.90, SD = 14.39), with a predominance of females (81.8%). The diagnostic protocol included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research-Structured Interview (DPCR-SI), and the SF-36 Health Survey. Descriptive, correlational, and generalised regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among these variables. Results: The findings revealed significant positive correlations between alexithymia and psychosomatic syndromes, while significant negative correlations were observed with health status. Furthermore, alexithymia was identified as a predictor of increased psychosomatic syndrome severity and reduced health status. Conclusions: These results highlight the critical role of alexithymia in IBS and underscore the importance of developing targeted interventions to address this psychological factor in affected individuals.