[Psychosomatic events in patients with digestive system disorders]

A total of 167 patients (92 men and 75 women) at the age of 45-65 (mean 47.4 +/- 4.2) years with different digestive system disorders were examined in this study. One group included 48 patients with chronic non-atrophic (largely antral) gastritis associated with helicobacterial infection, the second one comprised 46 patients with intestinal irritation syndrome, the third consisted of 36 patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease at the stage of unstable remission in the absence of symptoms of oesophagitis, and the forth group included 38 patients with chronic recurring duodenal ulcer. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-i) test and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) test were used for the assessment. Correlation was estimated using the Spearman coefficient and multiple regression analysis based on the Statistica 6.0 and GraphhPad Prism 4 statistical programs. It was shown that the overall alexithymia rate averaged 66.8%. Taken together with the high occurrence of the reactive anxiety response (74.1%), it suggests a high degree of personality psychosomatization among the examined patients with different digestive system disorders. Patients of groups 1 and 2 are characterized by significant positive correlation between the occurrence of the alexithymic personality type and the reactive anxiety response (r = 0.592, r = 0.593, p > 0.0001). This correlation was weak and insignificant in patients of groups 3 and 4 (r = 0.245, r = 0.190, p > 0.05).