RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALEXITHYMIA AND PARKINSON’S DISEASE IN A TUNISIAN SAMPLE

Abstract

Introduction Several psychiatric signs are part of non-motor signs of parkinson’s disease (PD), including alexithymia. Objectives The objective of this study is to determine the frequency of alexithymia in patients with PD and to study factors associated with it. Methods Descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study collected from patients followed at the neurology consultation of Habib Bourguiba’s University Hospital in Sfax, Tunisia. We used: - A sociodemographic, clinicaland therapeutic datasheetincludingthe Hoehn and Yahr motor scalefor the staging of the functional disability associated with PD - The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) with a cutoff score = 61 Results We recruited 47 patients. The average age was 61.47 years with a sex ratio (M/W) = 1.47. The average age of onset of the disease was 51.97 years. Sleep disorders were present in 51.1% of cases.41 patients (87.23%) were treated with dopa therapy. An Hoehn and Yahr stage ≥ 3 was found in 25.5% of patients. TAS: The mean score was 47.38 and alexithymia frequency was 19.1%. Alexithymia was statistically correlated with the presence of sleep disorders (P=0.023) and with an Hoehn and Yahr stage ≥ 3 (p=0.039).The occurrence of alexithymia was not significantly associated with taking dopatherapy (P= 0.31). Conclusions Alexithymia has been quite frequent in patients with PD and associated with motor gravityand sleep disorders. It is considered as a non-motor symptom of the disease that needs to be treated promptly. Disclosure of Interest None Declared