Estimated Radiation Exposure Resulting from Diagnostic Medical Examinations in China

: Diagnostic radiology provides significant benefits to patients. The inherent properties of ionising radiation may also cause potential harm. China is a large country of upper middle income. With the assessment methodology developed in the recent UNSCEAR report on medical exposure, radiation exposure from diagnostic medical examinations in China was estimated and compared with recent UNSCEAR’s global evaluation. It’s estimated that there is a total of 628 diagnostic examinations per 1000 Chinese population annually (higher than population-weighted average examination frequency of 457 per 1000 population in upper-middle income countries). The annual collective dose in China is estimated to be 691 (1000 man Sv), this is 58% of the collective dose estimated for upper-middle income countries. It is further estimated that In China, conventional radiology (excluding dental examinations) accounted for 66.8% of the total diagnostic examinations/procedures and 31% of the annual collective dose. Dental radiology accounted for 25.2% of the total procedures, but only 0.3% of the annual collective dose. Computed tomography made the largest contribution (57.7%) to the annual collective dose but accounted for only about 7.2% of all examination procedures. Interventional radiology accounted for only 0.4% of all procedures but contributed 6.9% of the annual effective dose. Diagnostic nuclear medicine accounted for about 0.5% of all procedures and about 4% of the annual collective dose. The estimated result is an extrapolation from recent UNSCEAR evaluation of medical exposure to ionizing radiation and subjects to large uncertainties. It is presented here to demonstrate the China’s position in the recent UNSCEAR global evaluation on medical exposure. Even though the uncertainty is large, it can, nevertheless, help with acknowledging the importance and identifying gaps in data collection at national level, and highlighting not only the research needs but also diagnostic procedures where dose optimization could significantly reduce patient exposure to ionizing radiation.