title: Prevalence and characteristics of alexithymia in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alexithymia, a reduction in the tendency to think about emotions, together with a difficulty in identifying and describing feelings, has been characterized as a personality trait, but may be secondary to other pathological conditions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The authors aimed at investigating alexithymia in Parkinson's disease (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy PD patients and 70 control subjects were administered the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The authors found that 21.4% of PD patients and 10.0% of controls could be classified as alexithymic. PD patients and controls significantly differed on global levels of alexithymia. However, univariate analyses showed that PD patients differed significantly only on the subscale investigating difficulty describing and communicating feelings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that some facets of alexithymia are a relevant feature of PD, possibly in relation to the neuropathological changes that characterize the disease.
authors.affiliation: I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy. a.costa@hsantalucia.it
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peppe
authors.forename: Giovanni A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Carlesimo
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salamone
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caltagirone
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists