ALEXITHYMIA: PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATION WITH EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AMONG PHYSIOTHERAPY STUDENTS IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN
Keywords:
Alexithymia, executive function, physiotherapy, students, emotions, prevalenceAbstract
Background of the Study: Alexithymia is a set of cognitive traits, including the inability to verbalize and recognize one's emotions. Physiotherapy students are more vulnerable to developing Alexithymia due to their academic workload and intense clinical postings. This neurobiological deficit involves frontal lobe dysfunction and reduced anterior cingulate cortex function, impacting executive function. This study aims to determine the prevalence of Alexithymia and its association with executive function among physiotherapy students.
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among physiotherapy students using the Toronto Alexithymia scale (TAS-20) to assess prevalence and executive function. It was evaluated through two neurophysiological tasks: Trail making and Verbal fluency tests. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 26.0.
Result: Out of 400 participants, the private license of Alexithymia was estimated to be 55%. Among physiotherapy students 24% were found to be at risk of possible Alexithymia. Alexithymia and executive function showed significant association with 85% of students demonstrating reduced performance on the trail-making test A (p=0.001). 83.3% of students had low outcomes on the trail-making test B (p=0.002), and 90% of students had low performance on verbal fluency tests (p=0.002).
Conclusion: Alexithymia is linked with male gender, marital status, academic year, smoking, internet use and bullying history. We are increasing awareness and developing interventions to enhance the mental well-being of students.
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