Diagnostic reference levels determined based on clinical indications for adult computed tomography at the Mohammed VI University Hospital Centre in Marrakech, Morocco.

This study aimed to establish the DRLs according to clinical indications (DRL CI) for adult patients in the three CT units of the Mohammed VI University Hospital Centre in Marrakesh (Med VI UHCM). Dose values and CT acquisition parameters were collected from 2.400 adult patients over the age of 16 who underwent CT scans in at the Med VI UHCM. This approach enabled us to assess 22 distinct clinical indications, spread across the four anatomical regions of the head, chest, abdomen-pelvis (AP), and chest-abdomen-pelvis (CAP). The DRL CI for each indication were established as the third quartile values of the CT dose index volume (CTDIvol) and dose-length product (DLP) distributions. To ensure a comparative assessment of dose distributions, a non-parametric test was applied to analyze the data according to the different indications for each anatomical region. Statistical significance was defined as p 0.01). The DRL CI observed for most indications was generally higher than that reported in France, Europe, America, and Africa. Optimization of radiation exposure in CT in adults should focus on DRLs based on clinical indications rather than anatomical DRLs.