Tulipani, C., Morelli, F., Spedicato, M.R., Maiello, E., Todarello, O., & Porcelli, P. (2010). Alexithymia and cancer pain: The effect of psychological intervention. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 79(3), 156–163.
To evaluate the impact of psychological intervention on pain perception and levels of alexithymia in patients with cancer
For six months, patients were randomly included in a psychological intervention or control group. The intervention consisted of biweekly 90-minute sessions provided by a clinical psychologist trained in psychotherapy and psycho-oncology. Main aspects included psychoeducation regarding mechanisms of pain, daily management of cancer-related issues, emotional reaction to illness, problem solving, cognitive restructuring of dysfunctional illness-related concerns and beliefs, stress management, and progressive relaxation. Investigators assessed outcomes at baseline and at the end of the study. Authors did not describe the control condition.
Randomized controlled trial
Control patients were significantly younger and had more progressive cancer than those in the intervention group (p = 0.01). In multiple regression analysis, only alexithymia and scores from the physical component of the SF-12 were predictive of pain intensity (p < 0.001). Patients with progressive disease had higher pain intensity, more interference with daily living, and worse pain (p < 0.001). At the end of six months, compared to controls, patients who received the intervention had significantly lower scores relating to pain intensity (p = 0.03), alexithymia (p < 0.001), hypochondriasis (p = 0.016), and disease perception (p = .013) and showed improvement in these problems from baseline (p < 0.007).
Findings of this study showed that the psychological intervention tested seemed to have a positive effect on pain and alexithymia in patients with cancer. Alexithymia was predictive of pain intensity.
Findings suggest that psychological intervention, including cognitive behavioral techniques and progressive relaxation, can be helpful to patients in regard to management of pain; however, limitations of the study design must be considered when interpreting results. The intervention provided was time-consuming and would be associated with cost, which was not discussed. Future researchers should construct well-designed studies to determine the most helpful type and dosage of interventions of this type.