Medical X-ray examination frequency and correlation with health economic index: a survey in east China’s Jiangsu province

Abstract

Objective:To conduct the survey on medical X-ray examination, and to explore the correlation with health economic index, including GDP, numbers of bed, outpatient, medical staff by assessing the frequencies of two categories of medical X-ray examinations. Methods: The numbers of medical radiological equipment and medical X-ray examinations in each medical institution were surveyed, and the frequencies of conventional X-ray examinations and CT scans were calculated, respectively. Their distribution characteristics were discussed through a correlation analysis between number of examination and health economic index, including GDP, beds, outpatients and medical staff. Results: The number of conventional X-ray examinations and CT scans performed in Jiangsu in 2019 was 38,255,027 and 25,149,658, respectively. Based on the total population province wide, the frequencies of the conventional X-ray examinations and CT scans were 452 and 297 per 1,000 population, respectively. The average numbers of conventional X-ray examinations were largely identical between the three categories of institutions, whereas the numbers of CT scans showed great differences. The number and frequencies of both examinationsshowed a strong linear correlation with GDP, number of beds, outpatients and medical staff. Conclusion: Number and frequency of radiodiagnostic examinations have seen a rapid increase in recent years, especially for CT scanning. The correlation between examination number and frequency and GDP, number of beds, outpatients, and medical staff may suggest a new strategy to extrapolate the frequency to the population in a sample survey.