Anxiety reduction in patients undergoing MRI: A single institutional study of two novel non pharmacological...

Patients undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) might face feelings of anxiety and fear in different magnitudes, before and during the scanning process with incidence as high as 37% having been reported, which sometimes leads to motion artifacts or premature termination of the scan. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of two novel interventions, namely, Mock Computerised Tomography (CT) run and counselling by consultant, in anxiety reduction of patients undergoing MRI by 1.5T scanner.

This was a prospective study. 90 patients referred for non contrast MRI of Brain or Spine fulfilling inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study and randomized into three groups (Control Group, Mock CT Group and counselling by consultant Group) using chit and box method. Outcome measures included STAI questionnaire, heart rate measurements and motion artifact assessment by two Radiologists. Statistical significance was set at P<.05.

ANCOVA showed statistically significant improvement in Post-intervention STAI scores in the Mock CT Group (P=.002) and counselling Group (P=.02) compared to controls. ANOVA demonstrated significantly lower heart rate elevations for the Mock CT Group compared to Control Group (P=.001) and counselling Group (P=.02). Motion artifacts were significantly lower in Mock CT Group compared to controls (P=.01) as evaluated by Chi Square test. No significant difference was achieved when comparing controls with counselling Group (P=.07).

This study showed that Mock CT can significantly lower anxiety levels in patients undergoing MRI, an intervention largely unexplored in existing literature. Although counselling by consultant lowered pre-MRI anxiety levels, this group did not perform as good as Mock CT when assessing anxiety during MRI. It is suggested that patients experiencing anxiety before MRI may undergo pre-MRI Mock CT with the option of counselling whenever feasible.