ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate alexithymia , personality characteristic and mental condition in patients with essential hypertension. Methods Fifty-one patients with essential hypertension were assessed using Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ), Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20) and the symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90). The results were compared with those of Chinese ordinary model. Results The E score of EPQ of the patients with essential hypertension was lower than that of the Chinese ordinary model, while the N, P and L scores was higher. The total score and the scores of all factors of SCL-90 were significantly higher than that of Chinese ordinary model. The total score of TAS-20 and score of factor 1, factor 2 were positively correlated with the scores of all factors of SCL-90, while factor 3 score had no significant correlation with SCL-90. The E score of EPQ was negatively correlated with the scores of all factors of SCL-90, while N and P score were positively correlated with them. Conclusion Patients with essential hypertension were inner personality, unstable psychological status and neuroticism showing alexithymia and obvious psychological symptoms.