Clinical Psychological Phenomena and Psychosomatic Components in Subjects Suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome

INTRODUCTION: According to current literature, psychosomatic disorders range from 0.8% to 5.9% in the general population. It is known how most patients suffering from medical conditions foresee a significant presence of psychological and psychopathological influential components. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is characterized by noteworthy basic psycho- logical phenomena. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight the presence of psychological components such as alexithymia and psychosomatic phenomena worsening patients’ quality of life (QoL). METHODS: The sample consisted of 133 patients diagnosed with IBS, aged from 18 to 73 years old (M = 31.08, SD = 14.14). The clinical protocol included a sociodemographic questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, and SF-36 Health Survey. RESULTS: High rates related to alexithymia and psychosomatic syndromes together with low QoL emerged. Significant correlations regarded alexithymia psychosomatic phenomena. Significant correlations emerged among sociodemographic variables, alexithymia and psychosomatic syndromes. Age, gender and alexithymia predicted psychosomatic symptomatology. CONCLUSION: The study showed significant results allowing clinicians to consider the role of predictors and relations among clinical variables. Sociodemographic variables and alexithymia showed to play an important role for psychosomatic syndromes and patients’ quality of life. In the light of the emerged results, it is essential to consider structuring clinical psycho- logical interventions.