title: Exposure of the French paediatric population to ionising radiation from diagnostic medical procedures in 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical examination is the main source of artificial radiation exposure. Because children present an increased sensitivity to ionising radiation, radiology practices at a national level in paediatrics should be monitored.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study describes the ionising radiation exposure from diagnostic medical examinations of the French paediatric population in 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on frequency of examinations were provided by the French National Health Insurance through a representative sample including 107,627 children ages 0-15 years. Effective doses for each type of procedure were obtained from the published French literature. Median and mean effective doses were calculated for the studied population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About a third of the children were exposed to at least one examination using ionising radiation in 2010. Conventional radiology, dental exams, CT scans and nuclear medicine and interventional radiology represent respectively 55.3%, 42.3%, 2.1% and 0.3% of the procedures. Children 10-15 years old and babies from birth to 1 year are the most exposed populations, with respectively 1,098 and 734 examinations per 1,000 children per year. Before 1 year of age, chest and pelvis radiographs are the most common imaging tests, 54% and 32%, respectively. Only 1% of the studied population is exposed to CT scan, with 62% of these children exposed to a head-and-neck procedure. The annual median and mean effective doses were respectively 0.03 mSv and 0.7 mSv for the exposed children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study gives updated reference data on French paediatric exposure to medical ionising radiation that can be used for public health or epidemiological purposes. Paediatric diagnostic use appears much lower than that of the whole French population as estimated in a previous study.
authors.affiliation: Medical Expertise Unit, Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Etard
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aubert
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mezzarobba
authors.forename: Marie-Odile
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Bernier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing