December 2, 2014
People with MS often feel anxious about MRIs and frequently lack basic knowledge of this diagnostic procedure. Is an education program that creates “expert patients” the answer?
People with MS often feel anxious about MRIs and frequently lack basic knowledge of this diagnostic procedure. Is an education program that creates “expert patients” the answer?
LAURIE BARCLAY, M.D.
Persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) often feel stressed while in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and then feel in the dark regarding MRI findings, according to asurvey reported online November 21 in PLOS ONE (Brand et al., 2014). Results of this study support the need for an evidence-based MRI education program, say the study authors.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Waglione.
“[MRI] is a key diagnostic and monitoring tool in [MS] management,” wrote Judith Brand, Institute of Neuroimmunology and Clinical MS Research and Department of Neurology, UMC Hamburg Eppendorf in Germany, and colleagues. “However, many scientific uncertainties, especially concerning correlates to impairment and prognosis[,] remain. Little is known about MS patients’ experiences, knowledge, attitudes, and unmet information needs concerning MRI.”
The investigators conducted five qualitative interviews and a survey of 104 persons with MS to determine their experiences with MRI and their level of basic MRI knowledge. These data allowed the investigators to develop a 2-hour interactive training program, which they tested in 26 participants.
Knowledge gaps
Based on analysis of the interview data, participants often described feeling lost in the MRI scanner and lacking counseling regarding their MRI findings. Interviewees described substantial fear about MRI findings, even though the survey showed that most patients knew that lesions are not strongly correlated with disability or with prognosis.
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