Individual doses for women undergoing screening mammography examinations in Poland in 2007

Exposure doses to women undergoing screening mammography examinations should be kept as low as reasonably achievable, but they should ensure high enough image quality for adequate diagnosis. The aim of this study was to estimate the radiation risk according to the 'European guidelines for quality assurance in breast cancer screening and diagnosis', fourth edition (European Commission 2006). Materials for this study were obtained from data from 250 screening mammography facilities in Poland. For every mammography facility, a standard average glandular dose for routine exposure was calculated. Furthermore, average glandular doses for individual mammography examinations obtained according to the methods proposed by Dance et al (2000 Phys. Med. Biol. 45 3225-40) were calculated. The average glandular doses determined for 250 mammography facilities ranged from 0.12 to 14.56 mGy (the mean values ranged from 0.62 to 4.53 mGy). Only for 39 mammography facilities were all exposures found to be below the acceptable level for an average glandular dose, and for only 18 mammography facilities did no exposures exceed the achievable levels for an average glandular dose. Average glandular doses to women undergoing mammography screening attained unnecessary high values, and they were found to depend on the technical parameters of the mammography equipment and maintenance of mammography units by personnel in various mammography facilities.