Entrance Skin Dose of Patient undergoing Chest Radiography among Hospitals in Changwat Phitsanulok

Abstract

The objective of this descriptive study was to measure the patient entrance skin dose from Posteo-Anterior (PA) chest radiography. The subjects of this study were the patients undergoing chest radiography among hospitals in Changwat Phitsanulok during February, 12 - April, 30 2007. The entrance skin exposures were measured according to the AAPM Report No.31 standard protocol. After that, entrance skin exposure was converted into entrance skin dose. The results revealed that the mean and the 75th percentile dose for 872 patients were 0.353 and 0.436 milligray respectively. The patient’s dose levels showed wide variations with some extreme values in some hospitals. However the outcome should convince radiographers to review the current practice in order to cut down exposures.