title: A comparison of the psychological burden of PET/MRI and PET/CT scans and association to initial state anxiety and previous imaging experiences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the level of psychological burden experienced by patients undergoing positron emission tomography (PET)/MRI scanning compared with PET/CT.
  
  
  METHODS
  100 adult patients referred for PET/CT and underwent PET/MRI scanning were eligible. Initial state, psychological burden of PET/CT and PET/MRI, scan satisfaction and preference were assessed using a purpose-designed questionnaire, comprising 61 five-point Likert scale questions and a three-point tick box question indicating preference between PET/CT and PET/MRI. State anxiety was assessed using the state portion of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests compared psychological burden experienced by participants following PET/CT and PET/MRI scan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A greater level of psychological burden was experienced by patients during PET/MRI than PET/CT p ≤ 0.001, consistent with patients' preference for PET/CT over PET/MRI (p = 0.013). There was a significant relationship between PET/CT psychological burden and initial state (r = 0.386, p ≤ 0.001). No significant relationship was identified between Initial state and psychological burden of PET MRI (r = -0.089; p = 217). There was a significant relationship between psychological burden of PET/CT and PET/MRI (r = 0.354; p = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients' experience increased psychological burden during PET/MRI compared with PET/CT. Previous scanning experiences and patients' interactions prior to and during PET/MRI improved patient satisfaction. Interventions could be implemented to improve imaging outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides evidence for the increased psychological burden of PET/MRI compared with PET/CT, and that people prefer the PET/CT procedure. We have shown that the patients who expressed a preference for PET/MRI demonstrated significantly lower psychological burden for that procedure than those that preferred PET/CT, which indicates that the benefit of reduced psychological burden could be facilitated by an appropriate intervention.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: R I
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4657-6235
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Shortman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neriman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoath
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Millner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Endozo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Azzopardi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Meara
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bomanji
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London/University College Hospitals London (NHS) Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Groves
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000523:psychology*; D057240:Patient Preference; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult