Repeat analysis program in radiology departments in Mazandaran province- Iran Impact on population radiation dose

The increasing use of X-rays in medical imaging has made it an important source of man-made radiation in the population collective dose (1). It is believed that about 90 percents of US community dose originates from diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine as sources of artificial ionizing radiation (2). An important goal in radiography is to obtain the best diagnostic information by delivering the least radiation dose to the patient (3). Reduction of image quality may cause repetition of X-ray examination which, in turn, leads to extra and unnecessary radiation dose to the patient. Repeat analysis program (RAP) is a helpful element to determine how big is the waste of films and where the sources of the error are (4). Also it can be used as a proper method for quality assurance of radiographic imaging (5). However, there is not any report on the radiation doses received by patients in diagnostic radiology due to repeat/reject films. The main goal of this study was to determine the effective dose to members of the public due to discarded films in diagnostic radiology departments in the Northern Province, Mazandaran of Iran.