Prevalence of alexithymia and associated factors among medical students at King Abdulaziz University: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Medical students are at higher risk of developing alexithymia due to the nature of their studies. OBJECTIVES: Determine the prevalence of alexithymia and potential risk factors among medical students in Saudi Arabia. DESIGN: A cross-sectional analytic study. SETTINGS: University medical school. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An institutional cross-sectional survey of medical students was conducted using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to assess the prevalence of alexithymia and potentially associated factors (gender, parental marital status, grade point average, status of accommodations, smoking status, year of study, childhood abuse, a history of mental illness, and physical activity). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gender, parental marital status, grade point average, status of accommodations, smoking status, year of study, childhood abuse, a history of mental illness, and physical activity. SAMPLE SIZE: 347. RESULTS: The prevalence of alexithymia among medical students was 49% (95% confidence interval [43.8–54.2]). A binary logistic regression model showed significant associations between alexithymia and academic year of study (lower risk of alexithymia in the clerkship (5th, 6th years); odds ratio [OR]: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.26–0.72), smoking (OR: 3.52, 95% CI: 1.60–3.34), grade point average (lowest; OR: 10.44, 95% CI: 4.24–25.77), history of childhood abuse (OR: 2, 95% CI: 1.20–8.77), and history of psychiatric illness (OR: 14.40, 95% CI: 4.76–21.06). CONCLUSION: Almost half of the medical students suffer from alexithymia. Increasing the awareness about alexithymia among students and directing them where to seek help would facilitate the management of these problems. LIMITATIONS: Limited only to medical students from the second year to the sixth year in a single medical college, which affects generalizability. The cross-sectional design might have also limited generalizability. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.