Toward Autism-Friendly Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Exploring Autistic Individuals' Experiences of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scans in the United Kingdom, a Cross-Sectional Survey

Background: Autistic individuals might undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination for clinical concerns or research. Increased sensory stimulation, lack of appropriate environmental adjustments or lack of streamlined communication in the MRI suite may pose challenges to autistic patients and render MRI scans inaccessible. This study aimed to i) explore the MRI scan experiences of autistic adults in the UK, ii) identify barriers and enablers towards successful and safe MRI examinations, iii) assess autistic individuals’ satisfaction with MRI service, and iv) inform future recommendations for practice improvement. Methods: We distributed an online survey to the autistic community on social media, using snowball sampling. Inclusion criteria were: being older than 16, have an autism diagnosis or self-diagnosis, self-reported capacity to consent and having had an MRI scan in the UK. We used descriptive statistics for demographics, inferential statistics for group comparisons/correlations, and content analysis for qualitative data. Results: We received 112 responses. A total of 29.6% of the respondents reported not being sent any information before the scan. Most participants (68%) confirmed that radiographers provided detailed information on the day of the examination but only 17.1% reported that radiographers offered some reasonable environmental adjustments. Only 23.2% of them confirmed they disclosed their autistic identity when booking MRI scanning. We found that quality of communication, physical environment, patient emotions, staff training and confounding societal factors impacted autistic people’s experiences. Autistic individuals rated their overall MRI experience as neutral and reported high levels of claustrophobia (44.8%). Conclusion: The study highlighted a lack of effective communication and coordination of care, either between healthcare services or between patients and radiographers, and lack of reasonable adjustments as vital for more accessible and person-centred MRI scanning for autistic individuals. Enablers of successful scans included effective communication, adjusted MRI environment, scans tailored to individuals’ needs/preferences, and well-trained staff.