Section of Radiology-Di.Bi.Med., University of Palermo, Policlinico Paolo Giaccone, Via del Vespro 129, 90127, Palermo, Italy.
Dipartimento di discipline chirurgiche Oncologiche e stomatologiche, DICHIRONS, University of Palermo, Policlinico Paolo Giaccone, Via Liborio Giuffrè 5, 90127, Palermo, Italy.
Radiol Med. 2016 Oct;121(10):763-8. doi: 10.1007/s11547-016-0664-z. Epub 2016 Jun 22.
Every patient could feel anxious when he waits in a radiological department to undergo diagnostic exams. The aim of our study is to evaluate the impact of the radiological exams on patient anxiety.
We evaluated 343 patients (mean age 54.83 years) who underwent different types of diagnostic exams in the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at our Hospital from April 2013 to August 2014. We administered to patients the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory Test, which detected with high sensitivity both state anxiety and trait anxiety. A team of clinical psychologists and radiologists evaluated the scores obtained.
83 out of 343 patients were excluded because refused to file the questionnaire. 31 % of the patients were submitted to MR, 18 % to breast imaging, 10 % to X-ray, 22 % Computer Tomography and 19 % to ultrasound, as previously described. 41 % of patients were submitted to the examination because of an oncologic disease, while 59 % because of non-oncological disease. Therefore, it was found that high levels of anxiety were present in most (about 91 %) of the patients and the scores varied according to the imaging examination and to the examination's reason: anxiety level was higher in non-oncological patients (54 %) and in patients waiting to undergo to MRI exams (29 %).
Our data suggest that the diagnostic exams are stressful events for the patient, also in non-oncological patients. So, it is important to adequate the radiological staff to receive the patient, to inform him and perform exams with emotive involvement with a targeted education. Also, further studies are needed to evaluate the anxiety level and the quality of the images, because the anxiety can result in a somatic disorder with hyperactivity of the autonomic nervous system which may affect the patient's physical examination, causing problems in the evaluation of radiological images making to non-cooperative patient. MRI imaging is the examination that more of all led to an anxious state of patients but the main stressor is not related to the type of diagnostic examination, but to the uncertainty of the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis.
当患者在放射科等待接受诊断检查时，每个人都会感到焦虑。我们的研究旨在评估放射科检查对患者焦虑的影响。
我们评估了 2013 年 4 月至 2014 年 8 月期间在我院影像诊断科接受不同类型诊断检查的 343 名患者（平均年龄 54.83 岁）。我们对患者进行了状态-特质焦虑量表测试，该测试对状态焦虑和特质焦虑均具有较高的敏感性。一组临床心理学家和放射科医生对获得的分数进行了评估。
343 名患者中有 83 名因拒绝填写问卷而被排除在外。31%的患者接受了磁共振成像检查，18%的患者接受了乳腺成像检查，10%的患者接受了 X 射线检查，22%的患者接受了计算机断层扫描检查，19%的患者接受了超声检查，如前所述。41%的患者因肿瘤疾病接受检查，而 59%的患者因非肿瘤疾病接受检查。因此，我们发现大多数（约 91%）患者存在高度焦虑，评分根据影像学检查和检查原因而有所不同：非肿瘤患者的焦虑水平较高（54%），等待进行磁共振成像检查的患者焦虑水平较高（29%）。
我们的数据表明，诊断检查对患者来说是一种压力事件，即使是非肿瘤患者也是如此。因此，重要的是让放射科工作人员充分了解患者，对患者进行告知，并在进行检查时通过有针对性的教育与患者建立情感联系。还需要进一步研究来评估焦虑水平和图像质量，因为焦虑可能导致自主神经系统过度活跃的躯体障碍，从而影响患者的体格检查，导致放射学图像评估出现问题，使患者难以配合。磁共振成像检查是导致患者焦虑状态最严重的检查，但主要的压力源与诊断检查的类型无关，而是与诊断、治疗和预后的不确定性有关。
