Relativity between alexithymia and cognitive function in somatoform disorders

To explore the relativity between alexithymia and cognitive function in somatoform disorder patients.A total of 40 patients aged 18-65 years fulfilling the criteria of ICD-10 for somatoform disorders were recruited as research group.And 40 normal healthy subjects were selected as control group.Toronto alexithymia scale-20 (TAS-20) was employed to examine the alexithymia.And cognitive abilities screening instrument (CASI) was used to measure their cognitive ability.The 9-factor scores and total score of CASI test in patients with somatoforill disorder were significantly lower than those in the normal controls (P<0.05 or <0.01). The 3-factor scores and total score of TAS-20 test in patients with somatoforill disorder were significantly higher than those in the normal controls (P<0.05 or <0.01). In research group, CASI scores were negatively correlated with the TAS-20 scores (P<0.05 or 0.01). Key words: Somatoform disorders; Cognitive function