The projected radiation-related lifetime cancer risk for patients with obesity is more than 150% higher than for adults with normal weight, according to new research led by the University of Exeter.
The study, published in the Journal of Radiological Protection, analysed data from 1964 patients attending a bariatric clinic. Patients' dose area product (DAP) data were collected for all projection radiography.
Data analysis showed that patients with obesity received higher DAPs for the five examinations studied (abdominal, chest, pelvic, lumbar spine, and cervical spine), compared to the UK national diagnostic reference level (NDRL). Abdominal and lumbar spine radiographs DAPs were the highest (17.6 and 30.31 Gy cm2) compared to the NDRL (2.5 and 4 Gy cm2). Only moderate to low correlations were found between patient's size and DAPs in the abdomen and chest radiographs.
The projected radiation-related lifetime cancer risk for patients with obesity was up to 153% higher than for adult patients with normal weight.
The authors concluded that patients with obesity receive higher DAPs than normal-weight adults. DAPs may be in excess of that expected due to their size. They say more dose optimisation research is needed in this group of patients to reduce dose rate and variation.
