[Analysis of the frequency, types and justification for radiographic examination based on a sample of a community...

According to the patient's general practitioner files of the Health centre "Josip Adamić" Ivanić-Grad, all x-ray diagnostic examinations carried out in health insured persons of the Ivanić-Grad community were analyzed between 1983 and 1987. During the period, a total of 22,615 x-ray examinations were done. An average number of 0.761 radiographs was performed and the average x-ray dose to which patients were exposed was 126.62 mrads (1.26 mGy). The site of most usual examination was the thorax (44.1%). Males underwent more x-ray examinations than females (53.2% versus 46.8%). X-rays of thorax, head and neck, arms and legs were more frequent in males, while abdomen and pelvis x-ray examinations and diascopies were more usual in females. The greatest number of x-ray examinations was performed between the ages of 0 to 20 years of age, and patients were exposed to the highest x-ray dose between the ages of 41 to 60 years of age. The average gonadal dose was 58.78 mrads (0.58 mGy) per year. Clinical examinations preceded radiologic examinations in 81.3% of cases, laboratory investigations in 9.7% and other non-radiologic examinations in 1.4% of cases. The working diagnosis existed before x-ray examination in 77% of cases and pathological findings were discovered in 32.7% of cases.