Alexithymia impairs quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome.

Aim: Our objectives were to compare the frequency of alexithymia and the alteration of quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and to determine the factors associated with alexithymia and quality of life deterioration.

Method: This is a comparative study which collected 80 IBS patients and 80 controls.

Results: Quality of life was impaired in 75% of patients vs 37.5% (p < 0.0001). The prevalence of alexithymia was 50% in patients vs 1.2% (p < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, an impaired quality of life was associated with alexithymia (p = 0.003). The factors associated with impaired quality of life were anxiety and alexithymia.

Conclusion: Alexithymia was present in half of patients with IBS and its was associated with impaired quality of life.