Alexithymia in individuals with chronic pain and its relation to pain intensity, physical interference, depression, and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Numerous studies have examined how alexithymia (difficulty identifying and describing one's emotions and a preference for externally oriented thinking) relates to chronic pain and associated disability. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize individual studies that either assessed alexithymia in individuals with chronic pain vs controls or related alexithymia to pain intensity, physical interference, depression, and anxiety. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO from inception through June 2017; 77 studies met the criteria (valid assessment of alexithymia in adults or children with any chronic pain condition) and were included in analyses (n = 8019 individuals with chronic pain). Primary analyses indicated that chronic pain samples had significantly higher mean

SUBMITTER: Aaron RV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6688175 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature