Background: Radiation dose knowledge through Xray
examinations and their distribution in Iran provides
useful guidance on patient dose reduction. The results
of the entrance skin dose (ESDs) of five common
radiographies in all radiology centers in Yazd province
were reported in our previous study (2003). In the
present study we have evaluated the collective
effective dose of conventional X-ray examinations, as
well as the annual per caput of Yazd population.
Materials and Methods: The annual frequencies of
18 different types of conventional radiology
examinations during April 2005 to March 2006 were
recorded from all 35 radiology centers in Yazd
province. The exposure conditions consisted of kVp,
mAs, and Focus surface distance (FSD) of the
examinations for the mode of exposure in each X-ray
unit. 620 ESD were measured by diode dosimeter in
35 hospitals and clinics. The real exposure kVp for
each radiology unit was measured by a Molt-O-Meter.
The conversion coefficient (effective dose - ESD ratio)
for each radiology examination was determined by
using SR262 tables. Finally, the patients' effective
dose was calculated by multiplying the conversion
factor to the ESD. Results: The patients' annual
collective effective dose due to the conventional
radiology examinations was 31.159 man-Sv (0.03 mSv
per inhabitant). The frequency of examinations was
311813 i.e. 0.36 examinations per head of the
population for one year. Conclusion: According to our
findings, the effective per caput dose seems to be
optimally relative to HCL-II countries, which may be
due to low mean effective dose that could obscure
high examination frequency. The number of radiology
conventional examinations and frequency of
radiologist per1000 population of Yazd was more and
lower than HCL-II countries respectively. Thus the
justification of radiography requests in this province
must be revised. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2007 4 (4): 195-200
Bouzarjomehri F, Dashti M, Zare M. Radiation exposure of the Yazd population from medical conventional X-ray examinations. Int J Radiat Res 2007; 4 (4) :195-200 URL: http://ijrr.com/article-1-268-en.html