European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Studies have shown that it is easier for people, who are emotionally capable, to cope with life challenges and therefore they are healthier psychologically. Alexithymia exacerbates vulnerability to physical illness and predisposes to chronic illness. The aim of this study was to determine the role of physical psychotherapy on the quality of life of patients with hypertension with alexithymia. In this clinical trial with a pre-test post-test design, 60 patients with hypertension with alexithymia were purposefully selected from the patients referred to the health centers of Semnan and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The intervention was performed during 1.5 months in the experimental group according to the steps designed in the protocol of physical psychotherapy. Data were collected using the Demographic Questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia and Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) and analyzed by descriptive, inferential and MANCOVA statistics. In multivariate analysis of covariance, there was a significant difference in the linear composition of alexithymia components and quality of life. Overall, physical psychotherapy has had a significant effect on improving alexithymia, blood pressure and quality of life. Therefore, according to the research findings, it can be said that physical psychotherapy hasbeen effective in improving the quality of life and controlling blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure with alexithymia and performing this treatment in the above patients is recommended as a suitable complementary treatment.