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La Barbera D, Bonanno B, Rumeo MV, Alabastro V, Frenda M, Massihnia E, Morgante MC, Sideli L, Craxì A, Cappello M, Tumminello M, Miccichè S, Nastri L. Alexithymia and personality traits of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Sci Rep 2017; 7:41786. [PMID: 28150800 PMCID: PMC5288771 DOI: 10.1038/srep41786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Accepted: 12/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychological factors, specific lifestyles and environmental stressors may influence etiopathogenesis and evolution of chronic diseases. We investigate the association between Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) and psychological dimensions such as personality traits, defence mechanisms, and Alexithymia, i.e. deficits of emotional awareness with inability to give a name to emotional states. We analyzed a survey of 100 patients with IBD and a control group of 66 healthy individuals. The survey involved filling out clinical and anamnestic forms and administering five psychological tests. These were then analyzed by using a network representation of the system by considering it as a bipartite network in which elements of one set are the 166 individuals, while the elements of the other set are the outcome of the survey. We then run an unsupervised community detection algorithm providing a partition of the 166 participants into clusters. That allowed us to determine a statistically significant association between psychological factors and IBD. We find clusters of patients characterized by high neuroticism, alexithymia, impulsivity and severe physical conditions and being of female gender. We therefore hypothesize that in a population of alexithymic patients, females are inclined to develop psychosomatic diseases like IBD while males might eventually develop behavioral disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- D La Barbera
- Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Unit of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - B Bonanno
- Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Unit of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - M V Rumeo
- Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Unit of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - V Alabastro
- Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Unit of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - M Frenda
- Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Unit of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - E Massihnia
- Unit of Nefrology II with Dialysis and Renal Transplantation, ARNAS Civico Di Cristina Benfratelli, Palermo, Italy
| | - M C Morgante
- Biomedical Department of Internal and Specialty Medicine, Regional Reference Center for Metabolism rare pathologies, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - L Sideli
- Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Unit of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - A Craxì
- Biomedical Department of Internal and Specialty Medicine, Unit of Gastroenterology, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - M Cappello
- Biomedical Department of Internal and Specialty Medicine, Unit of Gastroenterology, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
| | - M Tumminello
- Department of Economics, Management and Statistics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - S Miccichè
- Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - L Nastri
- Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Unit of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
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Sideli L, Prestifilippo A, Di Benedetto B, Farrauto R, Grassìa R, Mulè A, Rumeo MV, Di Pasquale A, Conte F, La Barbera D. Quality of life, body image, and psychiatric complications in patients with a burn trauma: preliminary study of the italian version of the burn specific health scale-brief. Ann Burns Fire Disasters 2010; 23:171-176. [PMID: 21991220 PMCID: PMC3188270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2010] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Burn patients may suffer both physical and psychopathological consequences and their quality of life and the presence of psychopathological symptoms should be evaluated. The Burn Specific Health Scale - Brief (BHSH-B) is a tried and tested instrument for assessing burn patients' quality of life. The aim of this study is to propose the Italian translation of BSHS-B and presents the preliminary results of an exploratory study. The Italian version of the BSHS-B was administered to a sample group of 50 burn victims. Reliability was verified by Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity was evaluated through correlation with the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) and the Self-report Symptom Inventory - Revised (SCL-90). The entire scale and two out of three domains showed Cronbach's alpha values higher than 0.8. Significant correlations were identified between BSHS-B subscales and the SF-36 subscales Physical Pain and Social Activities. Several psychopathological SCL-90 subscales correlated with BSHS-B subscales Heat Sensitivity and Body Image. It was concluded that our translation of BSHS-B was reliable and showed good construct validity. The drawbacks of this study are the limited size of the sample and the wide variety of types of burn injuries.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Sideli
- Section of Psychiatry, Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Palermo University, Palermo, Italy
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