Journal of International Psychiatry

Objective To explore the correlation between alexithymia and obesity in chronic schizophrenic patients, in order to provide more theoretical basis for the prevention and control of this group. Methods 485 inpatients with schizophrenia were included, including 172 cases in obese group and 313 cases in normal BMI group. Height and weight were measured by standardized methods, and BMI was calculated to describe the degree of obesity. The Positive And Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the psychotic symptoms of the patients, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to evaluate whether the patients had alexithymia. Results The incidence of alexithymia in the two groups were 32.6% (obese group) and 26.5% (normal BMI group), respectively (P <0.05). BMI index of schizophrenic patients was significantly positively correlated with the total score of TAS-20 (r = 0.121, P < 0.01), inability to distinguish emotion (r = 0.116, P < 0.05) and inability to describe emotion (r = 0.147, P < 0.01) (P < 0.05). Conclusion The incidence of alexithymia in patients with chronic schizophrenia and obesity is higher than that in normal BMI group. Obesity is related to alexithymia, especially in emotional discrimination and emotional description.

Chronic schizophrenia; Alexithymia; Obesity