Alexithymia is the inability to identify and describe one’s own emotions. Some research suggests that organic alexithymia may occur after acquired brain injury (ABI). However, the results in the literature are inconsistent, when comparisons are made against healthy controls. Furthermore, a precise estimate of alexithymia prevalence in the ABI population has not yet been reported. Consequently, this meta–analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence and characteristics of alexithymia in ABI, as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale–20 (TAS–20). Based on 22 unique ABI samples, a series of random-effects meta-analyses estimated moderate to large positive effect sizes (i.e., greater alexithymia in ABI samples) for the TAS–20 total scale (Hedges’ g = 1.00, 95% CI [0.75, 1.35]), as well as the subscales: difficulty identifying feelings (Hedges’ g = 0.92, 95% CI [0.66, 1.17]), difficulty describing feelings (Hedges’ g = 0.69, 95% CI [0.50, 0.87]) and externally oriented thinking (Hedges’ g = 0.75, 95% CI [0.64, 0.85]). Furthermore, a meta–regression identified a larger effect size (TAS–20 total scale score) for traumatic brain injury (TBI) samples, in comparison to non–TBI samples. Finally, the prevalence of clinically significant levels of alexithymia (TAS–20 total scale ≥ 68.4; i.e., two SDs above the general population mean) in ABI patients was estimated at 15.2%. We interpreted the results to suggest that ABI may have a substantial negative impact on affective processing abilities and, thus, comprehensive assessment of emotional functioning deficits following ABI should be considered by practitioners.

述情障碍是无法识别和描述自己的情绪。一些研究表明，获得性脑损伤 (ABI) 后可能会出现器质性述情障碍。然而，当与健康对照进行比较时，文献中的结果不一致。此外，尚未报告对 ABI 人群中述情障碍患病率的精确估计。因此，该荟萃分析旨在估计 ABI 中述情障碍的患病率和特征，如多伦多述情障碍量表-20 (TAS-20) 所测量。基于 22 个独特的 ABI 样本，一系列随机效应荟萃分析估计了 ​​TAS–20 总规模 (Hedges' g = 1.00, 95% CI [0.75, 1.35])，以及分量表：难以识别感觉（ Hedges' g  = 0.92, 95% CI [0.66, 1.17]），难以描述感觉（Hedges' g  = 0.69, 95 % CI [0.50, 0.87]) 和面向外部的思维（Hedges' g = 0.75, 95% CI [0.64, 0.85])。此外，与非 TBI 样本相比，元回归确定了创伤性脑损伤 (TBI) 样本的更大效应量（TAS-20 总评分）。最后，ABI 患者临床上显着的述情障碍（TAS-20 总分≥ 68.4；即比一般人群平均值高两个标准差）的患病率估计为 15.2%。我们将结果解释为表明 ABI 可能对情感处理能力产生实质性的负面影响，因此，从业者应考虑对 ABI 后的情绪功能缺陷进行综合评估。