Investigation of alexithymia and levels of anxiety and depression among patients with restless legs syndrome

Figures & data

Table 1 Comparison of sociodemographic data of patient and control group

Demographical data	Patients (N = 87)	Controls (N = 88)	P-value
Age	46.8 ± 9.3	44.4 ± 10.8	0.11
Gender			0.61
Female	69 (79.3%)	67 (76.1%)
Marital status			0.70
Married	66 (76.8%)	65 (73.9%)
Single	10 (11.6%)	14 (15.9%)
Divorced, widow, separated	10 (11.6%)	9 (10.2%)
Alcohol			0.63
Drinker	21 (24.1%)	24 (27.3%)
Tobacco			0.59
Smoker	37 (42.5%)	41 (46.6%)
Education			0.664
Literate	3 (3.5%)	3 (3.4%)
Elementary	29 (34.1%)	28 (31.8%)
High school	29 (36.5%)	23 (26.1%)
Associate licence, licence	13 (15.3%)	18 (20.5%)
Postgraduate, doctorate	11 (10.6%)	16 (18.2%)

Notes: Independent sample t-test (Student’s t-test) was used for comparison of numerical data, and chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical variables. Ages of both groups are expressed as mean ± SD.

Abbreviations: N, number of subjects; P, probability value.

Table 2 Comparison of TAS-1, TAS-2, TAS-3, TAS-total, BDI, and BAS scores of patients and controls

Results	Patients (N = 87)	Controls (N = 88)	P-value
TAS-1	17.0 ± 6.2	10.3 ± 2.4	<0.01
TAS-2	13.0 ± 4.2	10.2 ± 3.3	<0.01
TAS-3	22.0 ± 4.0	16.3 ± 4.1	<0.01
TAS-total	51.8 ± 10.6	36.7 ± 7.0	<0.01
Alexithymics (TAS-20 ≥61)	19	7	<0.01
BDI	13.6 ± 7.8	7.4 ± 5.2	<0.01
Depressed (BDI ≥18)	29	10	<0.01
BAS	17.4 ± 11.4	9.0 ± 7.1	<0.01

Notes: Independent sample t-test (Student t-test) was used for comparison of numerical data. Scores of both groups are expressed as mean ± SD. The presence of alexithymia and depression among two groups is compared with chi-square analysis.

Abbreviations: BAS, mean score of the Beck Anxiety Scale; BDI, mean score of the Beck Depression Inventory; N, number of subjects; P, probability value; TAS-20, 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale; TAS-1, mean score of the subscale Difficulty in Identifying Feelings; TAS-2, mean score of the subscale Difficulty in Describing Feelings; TAS-3, mean score of the subscale Externally Oriented Thinking; TAS-total, mean score of the TAS-20 total.

Table 3 Correlations of RLS, TAS-1, TAS-2, TAS-3, TAS-total, BDI and BAS scores through patient group

	RLS	TAS-1	TAS-2	TAS-3	TAS-total	BDI	BAS
RLS		0.141	0.510	0.154	0.062	<0.01	0.043
TAS-1	0.141		<0.01	0.301	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
TAS-2	0.510	<0.01		0.03	<0.01	<0.01	0.012
TAS-3	0.154	0.301	0.03		<0.01	0.416	0.190
TAS-total	0.062	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01		<0.01	<0.01
BDI	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	0.416	<0.01		<0.01
BAS	0.043	<0.01	0.012	0.190	<0.01	<0.01

Notes: Significant correlations are indicated in bold. Pearson correlation analysis was performed.

Abbreviations: BAS, mean score of the Beck Anxiety Scale; BDI, mean score of the Beck Depression Inventory; RLS, mean score of International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group RLS Severity Scale; TAS-1, mean score of the subscale Difficulty in Identifying Feelings; TAS-2, mean score of the subscale Difficulty in Describing Feelings; TAS-3, mean score of the subscale Externally Oriented Thinking; TAS-total, mean score of the TAS-20 total.