Hospital and clinic survey estimates of medical x-ray exposures in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, (1)

All large hospitals and 40% of the small hospitals and clinics in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities were surveyed for the X-ray examinations they performed during a 2-week period in 1974. The frequency and type of X-ray examinations received by members of the RERF Adult Health Study (AHS) and the RERF Life Span Study (LSS) extended, excluding AHS (Non-AHS), were compared with the general population in each city. Radiologic exposures of patients at hospitals and clinics were most frequent among the general populations. The number of patients, examinations, and exposures per caput per year in each population were estimated. Since the age distribution differed among the three populations, comparisons were made only after correcting for age. On a per caput per year basis exposure frequency was relatively high in the AHS and low in the general populations, a reflection of the greater number of patients in the AHS than in the general populations. Non-AHS males in Nagasaki had a higher X-ray examination rate than did the AHS subjects. The others in the Non-AHS did not differ appreciably from the general populations. There was no difference among these groups according to body sites examined. (author)