[The age of diagnostic radiologic equipment in Croatia]

The quality of health care also depends partly on technological equipment. Among the devices which diminish the quality of services if they are old, increasing at the same time the danger when used, are certainly those in radiodiagnostics. Besides, their age controls the dose of radiation to which patients and professional staff are exposed. The knowledge of the age of this equipment is the basis of the plans for further development. The aim of the study is to determine the age of each individual radiodiagnostic device in Croatian institutions. The assessment of each device was made by a qualified professional. The method of data collection was based on the uniform questionnaire which comprised radiodiagnostic devices older than ten years, classified according to type and location (primary health care center or hospital, in total 655 devices). Determination of the age index of generators and x-ray tubes older than seven years (according to the World Bank recommendation), included also mobile units (55 for fluoroscopy and 68 for radiography), devices for dental radiography, devices in private sector (118) and devices which are out of use but not officially blocked (88), which means in total 859 generators and 1111 x-ray tubes. In addition, the availability of image intensifiers for fluoroscopy and manufactures of all devices were determined. The results of the study reveal that in primary health care centers, out of 248 radiodiagnostic devices, 193 are older than ten years (77.8%), while 4 are of unknown age. In hospitals, out of 407 devices, there are 261 older than ten years (64.1%), while 46 are of unknown age (11.3%). Among devices for fluoroscopy, 97 out of totally 206 have no image intensifier (32%). These devices should be immediately excluded from utilization. The index of age above seven years, which is according to the recommendation of the World Bank the lifetime of devices, reveals that 859 generators out of totally 984 (91%) are too old to be used, while there are 1111 x-ray tubes out of totally 1206 (92%) which are in the same condition. Regarding the manufacturers, the ratio is also unfavourable, since 49.3% of devices have been manufactured by comparies whose technology and spare parts are now inaccessible (Elektronska industrija). Such unacceptable obsoleteness of the radiological equipment requires urgent renewal.