For many patients, anxiety can start long before testing. Their stomach may twist in knots in the days leading up to the appointment, and nervousness can persist even while waiting for results.
Ruminating on anxious thoughts can cause patients to fixate on the worst possible outcomes and quickly lead to snowballing. The thought process and creeping sense of dread are more common than people might expect, so much so that it even has its own name: scanxiety.
What is scanxiety?
Scan-related anxiety, or scanxiety for short, is the distress or nervousness caused by medical testing, such as a scan, and the uncertainties and fears that accompany it.
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“It’s the anxiety which comes from not only going through the procedure, but also wondering what the scan is going to be like, what the scan is for and having to wait to get the results,” said Laura Howe-Martin, the medical director of psycho-oncology at the UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center.
“Anxiety is already a normal human experience,” Howe-Martin said. “When we put someone in a situation where there is some sort of waiting period and there’s a big unknown, their brain has a really hard time dealing with that, especially when the outcomes of those tests could be very life-threatening.”
Laura Howe-Martin, medical director of psycho-oncology at UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center.
Dave Gresham/UT Southwestern Medical Center
Scanxiety can result from any medical condition that requires a lot of surveillance, but it is most common among cancer patients. A 2021 study surveyed 222 patients with different types of cancer and found that 55% of them experienced scanxiety. Research studies attribute this frequency to the high stakes of cancer treatment, namely the fear and uncertainty associated with what results might mean for a patient’s disease status and treatment.
Feelings of anxiety can be prompted by different parts of the scan experience, such as unfamiliar tech and equipment, discomfort or claustrophobia from enclosed spaces, and that worry can compound as patients wait for high-stakes, health-related news, Howe-Martin said in a news release.
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The most anxiety-inducing parts of testing may differ. A 2017 study surveyed 81 cancer patients and found that 79% were most anxious about the results, while 12% were most anxious about the scan procedure. Following testing, 87% reported being most anxious about the scan results.
Many patients also experience anxiety due to the potential long-term effects of surveillance scans. In the 2012-13 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), 73% of surveyed cancer survivors in the United States reported at least some worry about the effects of radiation from surveillance scans, and 16% reported a lot of worry.
How to recognize scanxiety
Scanxiety can manifest in many ways, including waves of feeling overwhelmed, panicked or depressed, insomnia or sleep disruptions, irritability, jitteriness or fidgeting, racing heart and sweaty palms, tension in the shoulders and neck, and upset stomach or digestive issues, Howe-Martin said in the news release.
These symptoms can be worsened by a fear of hospitals or clinics, unclear communication between patients and healthcare providers, not knowing what to expect at a healthcare appointment and previous poor experiences with healthcare. Scanxiety is especially prevalent among those who suffer from anxiety, or have a history of anxiety, Howe-Martin said.
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How to treat scanxiety
Turning off health-related notifications on patient portals, prioritizing self-care, practicing mindfulness and leaning on support networks are all strategies that can help alleviate feelings of anxiety, Howe-Martin said in the news release. Mental health professionals such as psycho-oncologists — who are trained to provide emotional support to cancer patients — can work with patients to develop proactive strategies to help cope when anxiety becomes overwhelming.
Patients with scanxiety are advised to seek information about future procedures and to talk with their doctor about the tests they need, as this reduces unknowns and can help calm anxieties, Howe-Martin said.
“It is very common for patients to come in and say, ‘I’m nervous about my upcoming scans, I can’t sleep, I’m getting snappy with people. I’ve done this before, why am I freaking out?’ And they say, ‘Is that weird?’ ” Howe-Martin said. “Normalizing it and saying: This isn’t going to last forever, you are going to be able to sleep again, you will move forward — that helps people realize, especially if they haven’t had that intense level of anxiety before, that they’re not going to stay in that space forever.”
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Putting a name to this type of anxiety is especially important because it helps prevent a lot of self-judgement, Howe-Martin said. For patients living with conditions that require long-term surveillance, that reassurance can make a notable impact.
Niamh Ordner is a science reporting fellow at The Dallas Morning News. Her fellowship is supported by the University of Texas at Dallas. The News makes all editorial decisions.