The prevalence and characteristics of alexithymia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Alexithymia is common in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although the estimated prevalence of alexithymia in patients with T2DM is widely reported, these results have not been synthesized. Aim: To systematically assess the prevalence and characteristics of alexithymia in patients with T2DM. Methods: We searched for relevant publications in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, and Weipu Database. The prevalence of alexithymia, the mean scores, and standard deviations of the total scale of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) were pooled using random effects meta-analysis in Stata 13.0, with studies stratified by study location in this meta-analysis. Results: This meta-analysis included thirteen articles. Pooled prevalence of alexithymia (TAS-20 total scores >= 61) were 43.0% (95%CI 35.0-51.0%), and the prevalence of alexithymia was higher in China (45.0%, 95%CI 36.0-54.0%) compared with non-China (41.0%, 95%CI 29.0-54.0%). The pooled mean score for the TAS-20 total scale was 57.70 (95% CI 55.25-60.15). Leave-one-out analysis showed that none of the studies significantly impacted the overall pooled results. Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated a high prevalence of alexithymia in patients with T2DM. Thus, clini-cians need to be aware of and assess appropriately for alexithymia in patients with T2DM.