Alexithymia and sense of coherence: Does their impact on fibromyalgia suggest new targets for therapy?

The specific aim of this study was to verify whether high alexithymia and low sense of coherence are associated with severe impact of the illness, severe pain and poor quality of life (QoL) in women with FM. A case-control pilot study was conducted on 50 consecutive women with FM aged 50.5 ± 10.8, who were evaluated by the Rheumatologic Service of the University Hospital of Cagliari, Italy. This report is the first study in the literature exploring the link between high alexithymia and low sense of coherence with severe pain perception, poor QoL and worse impact of the illness in women with FM have traditionally been considered to be stable.