Prevalence of Alexithymia and the influencing factors among medical students at Umm Al-Qura University: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Alexithymia is inability of the person to describe his emotions, somatic sensations, and struggle to discuss feelings. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of the state of alexithymia among undergraduate medical students and to explore its potential risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done through online survey targeted to undergraduate medical students. The survey included the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), students' socio-demographics, and the potential risk factors for alexithymia. Results: A total of 317 students participated in the study. A 56.5% prevalence of alexithymia among participants was demonstrated. A binary logistic regression model revealed higher risk of alexithymia among students with

Association between Alexithymia and Depression among King Khalid University Medical Students: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

“…The current study reported female medical students had a higher risk of developing alexithymia compared to male students. This finding is consistent with the findings of several studies, including Hamaideh et al [ 4 ] and Alharthi et al [ 30 ], which state that females are more likely to develop emotional problems, which explains why they are more likely to develop alexithymia. In contrast, a study carried out by Zhu et al [ 14 ] revealed that male medical students were at higher risk for alexithymia.…”

“…The current study assessed the prevalence of alexithymia among medical students in Saudi Arabia and evidenced that alexithymia was associated with sociodemographic factors (such as female, having a chronic disease, and income) and depression. As per the TAS-20 scale, the sample of this study showed a lower prevalence of alexithymia (47.3%) than other studies among medical students in other Saudi cities such as Jeddah (49%) [ 14 ], and Makkah (56.5%) [ 30 ]. However, we found a higher prevalence of alexithymia than a previous study conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which reported that 30.2% of university students had alexithymia and 33.8% had possible alexithymia [ 39 ].…”

“…There is no relevant validation and adaptation research of this scale for the population of Saudi Arabia based on statistics. However, this scale has been utilized in a number of studies in Saudi Arabia and has shown that they had an acceptable level of internal consistency for the Saudi population [ 13 , 20 , 30 , 33 ]. We also found an acceptable level of internal consistency in this part of the questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.77).…”

“…Customs and cultural beliefs play a vital role in this fact, emotions are a private matter that should not be probed [ 13 ]. In Saudi Arabia, few studies have been conducted on alexithymia among medical students or university students, all of which evaluated the relationship with sociodemographic factors, students’ academic factors, and internet addiction [ 13 , 20 , 30 ]. These studies acknowledged that depression was underreported in the studies and offered recommendations for further research.…”

Prevalence and associated factors of alexithymia among medical students: A cross-sectional study from Saudi Arabia

“…A s described in the literature, alexithymia is a multi-facet construct with difficulty in recognizing, describing, and distinguishing between emotions and bodily tensions related to emotional excitement and having difficulty expressing feelings for others. 1 The common signs of this construct include (a) trouble recognizing emotions and feelings, (b) difficulty recognizing vibes of passionate excitement, and (c) limitation in imagination and dreaming. 2 The prevalence of alexithymia has been found in most previous studies to be approximately 10% among the general population.…”