Assessment of Whether Patients’ Knowledge, Satisfaction, and Experience Regarding Their 18F-Fluoride PET/CT Examination Affects Image Quality

Article Figures & Data

TABLE 1

Characteristics of the 46 Patients

Characteristic	n	%
Marital status
Married/cohabitant	37	80
Single	7	15
Widow/widower	2	4
Education
Compulsory school	16	36
Upper secondary school	13	29
University 0–4 y	5	11
University > 4 y	11	24
Occupation
Working	15	33
Sick leave	1	2
Studies	0	0
Home work	0	0
Unemployed	0	0
Other	29	64
Monthly income (Swedish Krona)
0–4,999	1	2
5,000–9,999	0	0
10,000–14,999	6	14
15,000–19,999	8	19
20,000–24,999	8	19
25,000–29,999	7	17
30,000–34,999	5	12
35,000	7	17

TABLE 2

Patients’ Previous Knowledge About and Discomfort During ¹⁸F-Fluoride PET/CT

Question	n
Did you know before the examination what a PET-fluoride examination was?
Not at all	12 (26%)
Some	16 (35%)
Quite a lot	18 (39%)
I knew very much	0
Did you know before the procedure how a PET-fluoride examination was conducted?
Not at all	11 (24%)
Some	18 (39%)
Quite a lot	15 (33%)
I knew very much	2 (4%)
Did you feel trapped during the examination?
Not at all	33 (73%)
Some	12 (27%)
Much	0
Very much	0
How exhausting was the examination?
Not at all	33 (73%)
Some	9 (20%)
Much	3 (7%)
Very much	0
Was the examination as you had expected it to be?
Much easier	10 (22%)
A bit easier	10 (22%)
Just as I expected	24 (53%)
A bit worse	1 (2%)
Much worse	0

TABLE 3

Patient Satisfaction with the ¹⁸F-Fluoride PET/CT Examination

Question	Not at all	To low degree	To some degree	To high degree	To very high degree
Are you satisfied with the information you received before the examination?	0	1 (2%)	9 (20%)	18 (39%)	18 (39%)
Are you satisfied with the information you received when you came to the examination?	0	0	3 (7%)	19 (41%)	24 (52%)
Are you satisfied with the interaction with the nursing staff during the examination?	0	0	1 (2%)	13 (28%)	32 (70%)
Did the nursing staff communicate in an understandable way?	0	0	0	16 (35%)	30 (65%)
Did the nursing staff convey a caring attitude?	0	0	0	15 (33%)	31 (67%)
Did you feel confident in the professional skills of the nursing staff?	0	0	0	15 (33%)	31 (67%)
Did the nursing staff have adequate time for you when you needed them?	0	0	0	17 (37%)	29 (63%)
Did you get the impression that the work of the hospital was well organized?	0	0	5 (11%)	20 (46%)	19 (43%)

Data are from Patient Experiences Questionnaire and from questions designed for this study.

TABLE 4

Relation Between Imaging Results, Previous Knowledge and Discomfort, and Pain During Procedure

	Claustrophobia		Exhaustion		Pain		Knowledge
Category	Some too much (n = 12)	Not at all (n = 33)	Some too much (n = 12)	Not at all (n = 33)	Any level of pain (n = 17)	Not at all (n = 29)	Some to very much (n = 34)	Not at all (n = 12)
Artifacts
No	12	32	11	33	16	29	33	12
Minor	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	0
Major	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lesion conspicuity
Excellent	12	33	12	33	17	29	34	12
Intermediate	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Poor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Extent of image impairment
All anatomic regions fully diagnostic	12	33	12	33	17	29	34	12
Occasional regions impaired	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Several regions impaired	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overall diagnostic accuracy
Fully diagnostic	12	33	12	33	17	29	34	12
Minor impairment	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Major impairment	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Image findings
No metastases	4	15	4	15	6	13	13	6
Occasional (1–5)	7	14	6	15	8	13	15	6
Many (≥6)	1	4	2	3	3	3	6	0

TABLE 5

HRQoL of Patients Scheduled for ¹⁸F-Fluoride PET/CT