Is alexithymia associated with sleep problems? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT

Alexithymia, a difficulty identifying and expressing emotions experienced by oneself or others, measurably harms quality of sleep. Research has observed the association between alexithymia and sleep problems; however, the cumulative effect of this association is still unknown. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to present scientific evidence regarding the relationship between alexithymia and sleep quality. Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline, and using relevant keywords, we searched six databases Scopus, PubMed Central, ProQuest, ISI Web of Knowledge, EMBASE, and Science Direct. We selected observational studies on the association between alexithymia and sleep. We conducted meta-analysis using a random-effect model to calculate the effect size (ES) with Fisher's z transformation. Eligible studies (N = 26) in 24 papers included 7546 participants from 12 countries. The entire ES for the association between alexithymia and sleep was 0.44 (95 % CI 0.31, 0.56). Additionally, patient populations had a larger ES (ES = 0.55; 95 % CI 0.30, 0.79) than healthy populations (ES = 0.30; 95 % CI 0.20, 0.41). The results of the present systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a significant association between alexithymia and sleep problems, especially among people with any medical condition.