Comparison Of The Perception Of Pain and Alexithymia In Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis, Familial Mediterranean Fever And Healthy People

Author
Somayyeh Taklavi
Department of Psychology, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran
10.52547/rph.12.2.40
Abstract
The present study aimed at comparing pain perception and alexithymia between patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever, and healthy people. The research method was casual-comparative and the sample was drawn from all patients afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever, and healthy people in Ardabil city in 2017. The sampling procedure was Convenient. This way, 40 rheumatoid arthritis patients, familial Mediterranean fever patients and healthy people, collectively amounting to 120 subjects, were selected. The data collection procedure involved using McGill pain questionnaire and Toronto alexithymia scale as the instruments. To analyze the data, Manova and Post hoc tests were conducted. The results indicated that there is a meaningful difference in the perception of pain and alexithymia between people with rheumatoid arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever and healthy people. The intensity of pain perception among patients with alexithymia was more than its intensity among patients with familial Mediterranean fever. It can be concluded, therefore, that the disorder of pain perception and alexithymia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and familial Mediterranean fever can worsen these diseases and affect their treatment process.
Keywords
Pain perception
alexithymia
Rheumatoid arthritis
Mediterranean fever
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