Abstract:
Chest radiograph is the most common examination for many clinical conditions. Traumatic
adult injuries are the result of a wide variety of blunt, penetrating and burn mechanisms. They
include motor vehicle collisions, sports injuries, falls, natural disasters and a multitude of other
physical injuries which can occur at home, on the street, or while at work and require immediate
care. However, there is no empirical study on the radiation dose received by traumatic adult
patient at University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital. Hence, measuring
radiation dose on traumatic adult patient is necessary for optimization in radiation protection.
The main purpose of the study was to estimate the radiation dose received in chest x-ray for
traumatic adult patient at University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital. Both
qualitative and quantitative data analysis was used. The data were analyzed by using descriptive
statistics which include mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum of variables. A total
of 80 adult patients were selected from June 25 up to July 20, 2020. The mean ESD of male and
female adult patients was 0.16 ± 0.041 mGy and 0.16 ± 0.05 mGy respectively. Simultaneously,
the study was performed on chest examination projection parameters (PA, AP, and LAT) and in
four age groups. Accordingly, the mean radiation dose for chest PA, AP, and LAT are 0.146
mGy, 0.169 mGy, and 0.222mGy respectively. The ICRP, NRPB, and European Commission
reference levels are used as reference to compare this study result. In doing so, the mean ESD
value in chest examinations were compared with the NRPB and EC reference level; and the
result found that a lower value except for chest AP examination. On the basis of the results, the
study concludes that the variation of ESD is due to the use of appropriate radiographic exposure
factors like radiographic voltage (kVp), tube loading (mAs), tube filtration, patient size and
film-focus-distance (FFD. This study provides a benchmark for further studies at University of
Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital
