Association between disability and alexithymia in lumbar disc herniation: A cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Orthopedics

Background:

• Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a prevalent cause of low back pain and disability.
• Psychosocial factors, such as alexithymia, may impact patient outcomes in LDH, but research is limited.
• This study investigates the relationship between alexithymia, pain intensity, and disability in LDH patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the prevalence of alexithymia in patients diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation (LDH).
• To assess the association between alexithymia, pain intensity, and disability in individuals with LDH.
• To explore correlations between alexithymia and sociodemographic and clinical factors in an LDH cohort.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 105 patients with clinically and MRI-confirmed LDH.
• Assessment of pain intensity using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), disability via the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and alexithymia using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20).
• Spearman correlation analyses were employed to determine relationships between TAS-20 scores and various demographic and clinical variables.

Main Results:

• The prevalence of possible/definite alexithymia was 39.0% in the LDH patient group.
• Alexithymia showed weak positive correlations with disability (ODI) and some sociodemographic factors (BMI, education, employment).
• No significant correlation was found between alexithymia and pain intensity (VAS), age, sex, or other clinical factors.

Conclusions:

• Alexithymia is a common characteristic in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH).
• Alexithymia demonstrates weak associations with disability and certain sociodemographic factors, but not with pain intensity.
• Psychological assessment for alexithymia may aid in identifying emotional processing challenges and inform comprehensive rehabilitation strategies for LDH patients.