RADIOLOGY

Anxiety, manifesting through emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms, is primarily triggered by factors like fear of the results, procedural demands (such as having to lie still), and environmental stressors (loud noises). The framework proposed that these triggers can be counteracted by a comprehensive patient centered radiology (PCR) approach, which includes Effective Communication (like the AIDET framework), Patient Education, ensuring Physical Comfort, and Redesigning Radiology Processes to manage waiting times. Using an analytical cross-sectional design involving 113 MRI patients, the findings confirmed that anxiety is highly prevalent, with 68.1% of patients reporting distress upon learning they needed the scan. The most potent anxiety triggers identified were worry about scan results (82.3%), fear of lying still (74.4%), and anxiety over loud noises (66.4%). Crucially, the study uncovered significant deficits in the delivery of patient-centered care: nearly 40% of patients felt the procedure was not clearly explained, and over 43% reported insufficient emotional support. This lack of structured PCR directly impacted the patient experience, leading to only moderate overall satisfaction. The study concluded that while technical quality may be high, the absence of systematic, human-centric protocols intensifies anxiety. It strongly recommends that MRI facilities implement and enforce structured communication tools and integrate emotional support and efficient wait-time management to reduce patient anxiety, enhance compliance, and ultimately improve the quality of diagnostic imaging