Estimated Exposure Dose and Usage of Radiological Examination of the National Health Screening
Gil, Jong Won;Park, Jong Hyock;Park, Min Hui;Park, Chan Young;Kim, So Young;Shin, Dong Wook;Kim, Won Dong;
ABSTRACT
Korea conducts a national health screening program to improve and check-up on public health and in recent years, the screening usage has been increased. Given the increased screening usage for radiographic exams, this study predicts the frequency of using radiographic exams and the exposure dose. This study estimates the usage of radiographic exams by isolating radiographic exams from the 2011 analysis of the national health insurance corporation, and estimates the public exposure dose by applying each procedure's dose table from UNSCEAR 2008. As a result of the analysis, in the 2011 National Health Screening, the average exposure dose per person is assumed to be 0.57 mSv, and depending on the type of screening program from the radiographic exam, an examinee could be exposed to between 0.2 mSv and 11.081 mSv. The frequency of using radiographic exposure was found to be 16,005,914 and the exposure dose was 6,311.76 person-Sv. The most frequent exam is the Chest X-ray, which was performed 1,070,567 (69.17%), and the UGI has the highest exposure dose at 5,217.94 person-Sv (82.67%). The outcome is categorized based on gender and age, excluding those under 39 years old. In all age groups, the screening usage and exposure dose are higher in females than in males. In particular, females between 50 and 54 years old have the highest screening usage (1,674,787, 10.5%) and exposure dose (701.59 person-Sv, 11.1%). As UGI accounts for 82.76% of procedures, except when done for medical purposes, if the government supports a voluntary UGI exam (which includes the UGI exam in the National Screening Program) or abolishes it completely, as seen overseas, the cost-effectiveness and validity of the UGI exam, as well as the exposure dose from the National Screening Program will all decrease significantly.
PDF Links
Full text via DOI
Download Citation 
