Prevalence And Determinants Of Anxiety Among Patients Undergoing MRI: Insights From A Low-Resource Setting

Abstract

Introduction: MRI-related anxiety often leads to heightened patient discomfort, non-adherence, and compromised image quality. However, no study in Ghana has investigated specific factors associated with MRI-related anxiety. This study investigated prevalence of MRI-related anxiety and factors asso ciated with elevated anxiety among Ghanaian patients. Methods: This single-center, cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2024 and January 2025. Patient socio-demographic and clinical information were obtained with a pre-piloted question naire. A validated tool, the MRI-Anxiety Questionnaire (MRI-AQ), was used to assess patient anxiety levels immediately after their MRI. Relationship between anxiety levels and socio-demographic, clinical and pre-procedural factors were assessed by inferential statistics and post-hoc tests. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among the 182 enrolled patients, 59 (32.4%), 90 (49.5%) and 33 (18.1%) experienced low, moderate, and high anxiety, respectively. Increased anxiety was reported in females (p = 0.011), patients with chronic conditions (p = 0.013), first time MRI patients (adjusted p < 0.001) and patients without adequate MRI-procedural information (p = 0.001). Also, increased anxiety was reported in younger adults (≤40 years) compared with older adults (≥61 years) (adjusted p = 0.023), in patients with pri mary school education than in university graduates (adjusted p = 0.008) and in the unemployed than those in full-time employment (p = 0.020). Conclusion: This study highlights certain socio-demographic, clinical and pre-procedural factors asso ciated with heightened MRI-related anxiety. Female, young adult, unemployment, lower educational level, first time MRI, chronic conditions and lack of adequate MRI information are significant contrib uting factors. Implications for practice: Identifying and understanding factors and drivers of MRI-related anxiety in a low-resource setting is crucial for the development of targeted patient-support strategies and improving the quality of clinical care.