CT Scans, MRIs Becoming More Common Latest Prevention & Wellness
News CT Scan Rates Tripled at HMOs in the Last 15 Years,
Doubling Radiation Exposure to Patients By Brenda Goodman, MA
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD June 12, 2012 -- Another major
study is pointing to significant increases in radiation exposure
from the growing use of medical imaging tests such as CT scans.
For the latest study, which is published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, researchers combed through the
medical records of millions of patients enrolled in six large
HMOs around the U.S. They found that the percentages of patients
who received high or very high doses of radiation from medical
imaging tests roughly doubled over the last 15 years.
Researchers say the increases in radiation exposures seen in the
new study were driven by a sharp uptick in the number of CT
scans ordered for patients. From 1996 to 2010, CT scan rates
tripled at the HMOs, rising from 52 per 1,000 patients to 149
for every 1,000 patients. The incre