Objective To understand the frequency distribution of X-ray diagnostic examinations through radiology information system (RIS).
Methods Information was collected through RIS from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2012, including ID, sex, birth date, examination time, and examined body parts of patients who underwent X-ray diagnostic examinations in a hospital. The SAS was used for data cleansing and statistical analysis of the frequency distribution of different X-ray diagnostic examinations among patients categorized by sex, age, and examined body part and the repeated CT examinations among patients categorized by age and examined body part.
Results There were 11 sets of X-ray machines and 416 947 X-ray examinations conducted in 2012 in the hospital. Among them, the highest number of examinations was 328 484 for computed radiography/direct radiography (CR/DR), followed by 79 897 for computerized tomography (CT), and 7 303 for dental radiology. The most often examined body part was chest that accounted for 40.2% of all X-ray diagnostic examinations, followed by limbs and joints (27.0%), and head (6.4%). Among the children who underwent CT scans, 70.3% of them had head CT scans. The proportion of patients who had repeated CT scans increased with age: 7.0% for the children aged 0-15 years old, 14.4% for those aged 16-40 years old, and 22.3% for those aged older than 40 years old.
Conclusion The method to obtain medical X-ray exposure data from RIS is scientific and economic. Except for CR/DR, the higher frequency of CT examination accounts for that of all X-ray diagnostic examinations. Head CT is common in CT scans, especially for children.
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