Effect of Alexithymia and Emotional Repression on Postsurgical Pain in Women With Breast Cancer: A Prospective Longitudinal 12-Month Study.
Fiche publication
Date publication
janvier 2016
Journal
The journal of pain
Auteurs
Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Dr MASSELIN-DUBOIS Anne
Tous les auteurs :
Baudic S, Jayr C, Albi-Feldzer A, Fermanian J, Masselin-Dubois A, Bouhassira D, Attal N
Lien Pubmed
Résumé
Alexithymia, the inability to identify and express emotions, and emotional repression, a defensive mechanism used to avoid unpleasant emotional experience, have been associated with chronic pain and medical illness including breast cancer, but whether these constructs might predict pain after breast cancer surgery has not been assessed. The present study was conducted to assess the predictive value of alexithymia and emotional repression in postoperative pain. Anxiety, depression, catastrophizing, and psychological adjustment were also assessed. Data were collected before surgery, and then at 2 days and 2, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. We included 100 pain-free women, 96% of whom were followed for up to 12 months. Separate multivariate analyses identified anxiety as a significant predictor of postsurgical pain at 3 months, alexithymia at 3, 6, and 12 months, and body image and catastrophizing predicted acute or subacute pain at 2 months. In contrast, emotional repression was not predictive of pain. The generalized estimating equation approach was used and identified alexithymia as the only significant predictor of pain during the 12-month period after surgery. Alexithymia, but not emotional repression, predicted the development of persistent pain after breast surgery independently of anxiety and depression. Thus, alexithymia might be involved in mechanisms of pain chronicity.
Mots clés
Alexithymia, breast cancer surgery, chronic postoperative pain, emotional repression
Référence
J Pain. 2016 01;17(1):90-100