Erschienen in:
01.05.2013 | Magnetic Resonance
Psychosocial consequences and severity of disclosed incidental findings from whole-body MRI in a general population study
verfasst von:
Carsten Oliver Schmidt, Katrin Hegenscheid, Pia Erdmann, Thomas Kohlmann, Martin Langanke, Henry Völzke, Ralf Puls, Heinrich Assel, Reiner Biffar, Hans Jörgen Grabe
Erschienen in:
European Radiology
|
Ausgabe 5/2013
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Abstract
Objectives
Little is known about the psychosocial impact and subjective interpretation of communicated incide ntal findings from whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (wb-MRI). This was addressed with this general population study.
Methods
Data was based on the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP), Germany. SHIP comprised a 1.5-T wb-MRI examination. A postal survey was conducted among the first 471 participants, aged 23–84 years, who received a notification about incidental findings (response 86.0 %, n = 405). The severity of incidental findings was assessed from the participants’ and radiologists’ perspective.
Results
In total, 394 participants (97.3 %) wanted to learn about their health by undergoing wb-MRI. Strong distress while waiting for a potential notification of an incidental finding was reported by 40 participants (9.9 %), whereas 116 (28.6 %) reported moderate to severe psychological distress thereafter. Strong disagreement was noted between the subjective and radiological evaluation of the findings’ severity (kappa = 0.02). Almost all participants (n = 389, 96.0 %) were very satisfied with their examination.
Conclusions
Despite the high satisfaction of most participants, there were numerous adverse consequences concerning the communication of incidental findings and false expectations about the likely potential benefits of whole-body-MRI.
Key Points
• Disclosed incidental findings from MRI may lead to substantial psychosocial distress.
• Subjective and radiological evaluations of incidental findings’ severity differ strongly.
• Disclosing incidental findings is strongly endorsed by study volunteers.
• Study volunteers tend to have false expectations about potential benefits from MRI.
• Minimizing stress in study volunteers should be a key aim in MRI research.