title: The last illness factor: a District experience.
abstract: The term "last illness factor" is used to indicate the proportion of diagnostic X-ray exposure which occurs in the patient's last illness. An assessment was made of this by determining the number of radiographic examinations made in the patients' last illnesses of persons dying in 1985 in Manchester Central District, and comparing this with the 1985 workload in the diagnostic department. This suggests the last illness factor is about 5% and is thus very small compared with the other factors to be taken into account in assessing the harm from diagnostic radiation.
authors.affiliation: St Mary's Hospital, Manchester.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Russell
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D013727:Terminal Care