Impact of anxiety levels and alexithymia degree on the quality of life in patients with anxiety disorders

Abstract

Objective·To evaluate the relationship between anxiety level, alexithymia degree and quality of life in patients with anxiety disorders.Methods·Anxiety disorder patients admitted to the outpatient department of Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from October 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023 were selected as the research subjects, and 438 patients were ultimately included after exclusion. Among them, there were 271 patients with generalized anxiety disorder, 101 patients with panic disorder, 48 patients with social anxiety disorder, 12 patients with agoraphobia, and 6 patients with specific phobia. Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Scale-17 (HAMD-17), the twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-Brief Form Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to assess the patients' anxiety level, depression level, alexithymia degree and quality of life, respectively, and the scale scores of patients with different subtypes of anxiety disorders were evaluated. Spearman correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between anxiety level, depression level, alexithymia degree and quality of life in patients with anxiety disorders. Stepwise regression model was used to analyze the key variables affecting the quality of life in patients with anxiety disorders.Results·There were no significant differences in HAMA score, HAMD-17 score and TAS-20 score among patients with different subtypes of anxiety disorders, but the differences in WHOQOL-BRIEF score were statistically significant (H=10.076, P=0.039). The results of Spearman correlation analysis showed that the WHOQOL-BRIEF score of anxiety disorder patients was negatively correlated with HAMA score, HAMD-17 score and TAS-20 score (r=-0.256, P=0.000; r=-0.311, P=0.000; r=-0.342, P=0.000). The results of stepwise regression analysis showed that age, HAMA score, HAMD-17 score and TAS-20 score had significant impact on the quality of life of patients (all P<0.05).Conclusion·The quality of life in patients with different subtypes of anxiety disorders is different. The anxiety level, depression level and alexithymia degree are the key variables affecting their quality of life.

Keywords

• anxiety disorder
• anxiety level
• depression level
• alexithymia
• quality of life