Anxiety in Healthy Subjects Participating in 7T Examinations—Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Anxiety before an MRI examination is common, even though the technique is noninvasive and painless. In a 7T MRI study, healthy volunteers also reported anxiety before the examination. This study aimed to assess anxiety levels in healthy individuals undergoing 7T MRI and to determine if their anxiety decreased during subsequent examinations. Participants filled out a questionnaire on anxiety. Eleven questions were compared between the first and second examinations using a paired t-test. Results show that significantly more participants felt worried before the first examination compared with the second. However, more participants felt tense after the second examination. Participants felt better informed before the second examination, but more felt fine after the first one. Six participants (14%) felt nervous about the second examination despite having completed the first one. This study reveals that healthy participants still experience anxiety even after a prior MR examination. However, most participants felt retrospectively that their anxiety was unnecessary. This study suggests that providing more information may help reduce anxiety among healthy volunteers in research studies.

Keywords

• MeSH
• magnetic resonance imaging [E01.370.350.825.500]
• anxiety [F01.470.132]
• patient-centered care [N04.590.233.727.407]