Relationship between alexithymia and patients' satisfaction in anterior esthetic restorations / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the relationship between alexithymia and patients' satisfaction under the condition of good quality in the esthetic characters. Methods 211 patients requiring single anterior tooth restoration were treated with all ceramic crowns which were assessed by the good and moderate degrees. Patients received 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and a visual analogue scale assessing patients' satisfaction (VAS). Chi-squared analysis, correlation analysis and the general linear modeling procedure were calculated for TAS total and factors scores according to age, gender and dichotomized satisfaction. Results 85. 3% patients belonged to the high satisfaction group(VAS scores 80 or higher) and 7.1% reported alexithymia ( total score 61 or higher). No difference across gender was observed in the prevalence of alexithymia and satisfaction. Age was correlated with the TAS scores ( r=0.629) and satisfaction scores ( r= -0.429). According to dichotomized satisfaction,TAS total and factor 1&2 scores were significantly different. When adjusting for the effect of age,the association was existed between TAS scores and san'sfaction( r= -0.68). Conclusion Alexithymia has effect on dental satisfaction.