RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALEXITHYMIA AND PARKINSON’S DISEASE IN A TUNISIAN SAMPLE

INTRODUCTION: Several psychiatric signs are part of non-motor signs of parkinson’s disease (PD), including alexithymia. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine the frequency of alexithymia in patients with PD and to study factors associated with it. METHODS: Descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study collected from patients followed at the neurology consultation of Habib Bourguiba’s University Hospital in Sfax, Tunisia. We used: A sociodemographic, clinicaland therapeutic datasheetincludingthe Hoehn and Yahr motor scalefor the staging of the functional disability associated with PD. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) with a cutoff score = 61. RESULTS: We recruited 47 patients. The average age was 61.47 years with a sex ratio (M/W) = 1.47. The average age of onset of the disease was 51.97 years. Sleep disorders were present in 51.1% of cases.41 patients (87.23%) were treated with dopa therapy. An Hoehn and Yahr stage ≥ 3 was found in 25.5% of patients. TAS: The mean score was 47.38 and alexithymia frequency was 19.1%. Alexithymia was statistically correlated with the presence of sleep disorders (P=0.023) and with an Hoehn and Yahr stage ≥ 3 (p=0.039).The occurrence of alexithymia was not significantly associated with taking dopatherapy (P= 0.31). CONCLUSIONS: Alexithymia has been quite frequent in patients with PD and associated with motor gravityand sleep disorders. It is considered as a non-motor symptom of the disease that needs to be treated promptly. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST: None Declared