Imaging may expose kids to radiation

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Healthcare personnel, hospitals and parents should reconsider whether diagnostic testing exposes children to too much radiation, U.S. researchers suggest.

Study leader Dr. Adam Dorfman of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor estimates a child receives approximately seven imaging procedures involving radiation by age 18.

Dorfman and colleagues found more than 400,000 imaging procedures performed during the three-year period they tracked 355,088 children age 18 and under in five large U.S. healthcare markets.

The study, published online in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, finds 42.5 percent of the children had at least one imaging test. Many children received multiple tests -- ranging from low-dose routine ones to scans with greater doses.

"Imaging tests are a critical component of good medical care, but the high number of tests raises questions about whether we are being judicious in our use of the technology," Dorfman says in a statement. "What we've tried to do is raise awareness of the issue and start a national dialogue by identifying the overall scope of the problem."

Dorfman cautions their analysis is limited because the clinical appropriateness of the tests could not be determined.