• J Stojanov and A Stojanov.
• Special Hospital for Psychiatric Illness "Gornja Toponica", Gornja Toponica, Serbia.
• J Postgrad Med. 2020 Jan 1; 66 (1): 23-27.

BackgroundAlexithymia is one's incapacity to identify, comprehend, and describe emotions. There is almost no literature data about the levels of alexithymia among patients with relapse remitting type of multiple sclerosis.AimThe objective of the present study was to assess the levels of alexithymia in patients with relapse remitting type of multiple sclerosis in relation to their sociodemographic variables and clinical characteristics of the disease.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 106 consecutively assessed patients with relapse remitting type of multiple sclerosis. In addition to the data regarding disease duration, number of demyelinating relapses, and degree of neurological disability, assessed by the expanded disability scale score (EDSS), we used Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS), fatigue severity scale (FSS) and, Hamilton scale for the assessment of anxiety and depression and sociodemographic questionnaire.ResultsStudy included 74 female and 32 male patients, with a median age of 44 years, median disease duration 90 months, and median EDSS 4. About 29.55% of patients had alexithymia and borderline alexithymia was observed in 31.15% patients. Alexithymia correlated with anxiety and depression (P < 0.01) on all TAS subscales. Higher levels of neurological disability based on EDSS, severe fatigue based on FSS scores, and severe relapse remitting type of multiple sclerosis with more relapses and longer disease duration correlated with alexithymia (P < 0.01), depression (P < 0.01), and anxiety (P < 0.01). Higher rates of alexithymia were noticed in older, unemployed, single patients, and those having fewer children.ConclusionsAlexithymia was found in a relatively high percentage in patients with relapse remitting type of multiple sclerosis.

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