Abstract
In this study, psychiatric symptoms and secondary alexithymia of the patients on hemodialysis were investigated using the MMPI Alexithymia Scale and the 30-items General. Health Questionnaire(GHQ). The subjects of this study were 47 patients on hemodialysis. They consisted of 24 patients of the introductory stage and 23 patients of the stable stage. The results were as follows. By MMPI Alexithymia Scale, 37.5% of the introductory stage and 31.1% of the stable stage were judged as alexithymia. By GHQ, 62.5% of the introductory stage and 73.9% of the stable stage were judged as neurotic tendency. In neither GHQ nor MMPI Alexithymia Scale, there were no significant differences between the introductory stage and the stable stage. The cases which did not indicate any problems in both of GHQ and MMPI Alexithymia Scale were only 2 cases out of 47 (4.3%). Therefore, it was suggested that the care and consideration are necessary not only for psychiatric problems such as depressive, neurotic state, frequently observed in the patients on hemodialysis but also for psychosomatic aspects including secondary alexithymia.
