title: Anxiety in Cancer Patients during18F-FDG PET/CT Low Dose: A Comparison of Anxiety Levels before and after Imaging Studies.
abstract: Objective. Assessing the level of anxiety in oncology patients who underwent18F-FDG PET/CT low dose scan and identifying the main reasons that generate anxiety.Material and Method. The study included 81 cancer patients submitted to the18F-FDG PET/CT low dose scan. Patients filled in the Scan Experience Questionnaire and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before and after18F-FDG PET/CT low dose scan.Results. Substantial levels of anxiety were detected both before and after18F-FDG PET/CT low dose scan (STAI mean > 30), with a significant increase in the state of anxiety after scan performance (p< 0.0001, Medianpre= 31.1, and Medianpos= 33.0).18F-FDG PET/CT low dose results are the main cause of anxiety both before (79.1%) and after (86.9%) the scan. The information provided by staff both before and on the18F-FDG PET/CT low dose day was classified mostly as completely understandable (70.5% and 75.3%, resp.) and as very useful (70.5% and 72.6%, resp.) and correlated positively with patients' overall satisfaction with NM Department (rS= 0.372,p= 0.004 andrS= 0.528,p= 0.000, resp.), but not with anxiety levels.Conclusions. Patients perceive high levels of anxiety during the18F-FDG PET/CT low dose scan and the concern with scan results was pointed out as the main factor for that emotional reaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; Centro de Investigação em Ciências Psicológica, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1986-8814
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grilo
authors.affiliation: Área Cientifica de Medicina Nuclear, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Elisabete
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carolino
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cátia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Instituto Tecnológico de Servicios Sanitarios, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital General Universitario "Gregorio Marañon", Madrid, Spain; Sociedad Española de Medicina Nuclear e Imagen Molecular, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alonso