Somatization and alexithymia in young adult Finnish population

Karvonen, Juha T.; Veijola, Juha; Kokkonen, Pirkko; Läksy, Kristian; Miettunen, Jouko; Joukamaa, Matti

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2005.04.005

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Volume 27, Issue 4 , Pages 244-249, July 2005

Somatization and alexithymia in young adult Finnish population

Preliminary results of this study have been presented in an abstract at the 2nd Conference on Epidemiological Longitudinal Studies in Europe in Oulu, Finland, 12th–14th June 2002.

Juha T. Karvonen, MD
- Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, FIN-90029 OYS, Oulu, Finland
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +358 8 315 6910; fax: +358 8 336 169.
Juha Veijola, MD, PhD
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Muurola Psychiatric Hospital, Hospital District of Lapland, FIN-97140 Totonvaara, Finland
Pirkko Kokkonen, MD
- Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, FIN-90029 OYS, Oulu, Finland
Kristian Läksy, MD, PhD
- Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, FIN-90029 OYS, Oulu, Finland
Jouko Miettunen, PhD
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, P.O. Box 5000, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Matti Joukamaa, MD, PhD
- Department of Social Psychiatry, Tampere School of Public Health, FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Tampere University Hospital, P.O. Box 2000, FIN-33521 Tampere, Finland

Received 5 January 2005; accepted 18 April 2005.

Abstract

Background

We assessed alexithymia and alexithymic features among young adult subjects with and without somatization symptoms in an epidemiological setting with a sample of young adults.

Methods

The sample consisted of urban 31-year-old subjects (N=1002). Data on somatization were gathered from a review of all public health outpatient records. Subjects with four or more somatization symptoms according to the DSM-III-R criteria were considered somatizers. The 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to measure alexithymia. Subjects with a total TAS score over 60 were considered as being alexithymic, and those with a score under 52 were considered nonalexithymic. Subjects with a total TAS score from 52 to 60 were considered as having alexithymic features.

Results

The prevalence of alexithymia was 6.0% among somatizers and 4.8% among subjects without somatization symptoms, and the prevalence of alexithymic features was 7.5% and 12.6%, respectively.

Conclusions

No association was found between alexithymia and somatization in young adult general population. The earlier theory of the association between alexithymia and somatization may be questionable.

Keywords: Somatization, Alexithymia, Population study, Epidemiology, TAS-20