Handbook of Spatial Epidemiology explains how to model epidemiological problems and improve inference about disease etiology from a geographical perspective. Top epidemiologists, geographers, and statisticians share interdisciplinary viewpoints on analyzing spatial data and space-time variations in disease incidences. These analyses can provide imp

Assembling a collection of very prominent researchers in the field, the Handbook of Spatial Statistics presents a comprehensive treatment of both classical and state-of-the-art aspects of this maturing area. It takes a unified, integrated approach to the material, providing cross-references among chapters.The handbook begins with a historical intro

Containing method descriptions and step-by-step procedures, the Spatial Epidemiological Approaches in Disease Mapping and Analysis equips readers with skills to prepare health-related data in the proper format, process these data using relevant functions and software, and display the results as mapped or statistical summaries. Describing the wide r

Spatial epidemiology is concerned with describing, quantifying and explaining geographical variations in disease, especially with respect to variations in environmental exposures at the small-area scale. The recent and rapid expansion of the field looks set to continue in line with growing public, government and media concern about environment and health issues, and a scientific need to understand and explain the effects of environmental pollutants on health. This book brings together contributions from an international group of practitioners from a wide spectrum of disciplines including epidemiologists, statisticians, geographers, demographers and pollution modellers, providing a comprehensive reference on state-of-the-art methods and applications in the emerging field of spatial epidemiology. The book is divided into four sections. Section one gives an introduction to spatial epidemiological studies and summarises data requirements and problems with respect to modelling health events, including bias and confounding. Section two gives an overview of the state-of-the-art in statistical methodology, including Bayesian approaches to disease mapping, cluster detection, analysis of point exposures, geostatistical methods and methods for ecological correlation studies. Section three gives examples of disease mapping and cluster studies, involving mortality data, communicable disease data, Hodgkins disease, diabetes and childhood leukemias. Section four reviews methods ofexposure assessment for use in spatial epidemiological studies, and discusses possible links between exposure and health data in risk asessment, and in the effects on human health of traffic related pollution, water quality and climate change. This book aims to give an authoritative account of current practice and developments in the field. As such it should be of interest to epidemiologists, public health practitioners, statisticians, geographers, environmental scientists and others concerned with understanding the geographical distribution of disease and the effects of environmental exposures on human health. It will be a a valuable source for undergraduate and postgraduate coursees in epidemiology, medical geography, biostatistics, environmental health and environmental science as well as a useful source of reference for health policy makers, health economists, regulators and others in the field of environmental health.

Providing a practical, comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the use of spatial statistics in epidemiology, this book examines spatial analytical methods in conjunction with GIS and remotely sensed data to provide insights into the patterns and processes that underlie disease transmission.

Spatial epidemiology is the description and analysis of the geographical distribution of disease. It is more important now than ever, with modern threats such as bio-terrorism making such analysis even more complex. This second edition of Statistical Methods in Spatial Epidemiology is updated and expanded to offer a complete coverage of the analysis and application of spatial statistical methods. The book is divided into two main sections: Part 1 introduces basic definitions and terminology, along with map construction and some basic models. This is expanded upon in Part II by applying this knowledge to the fundamental problems within spatial epidemiology, such as disease mapping, ecological analysis, disease clustering, bio-terrorism, space-time analysis, surveillance and infectious disease modelling. Provides a comprehensive overview of the main statistical methods used in spatial epidemiology. Updated to include a new emphasis on bio-terrorism and disease surveillance. Emphasizes the importance of space-time modelling and outlines the practical application of the method. Discusses the wide range of software available for analyzing spatial data, including WinBUGS, SaTScan and R, and features an accompanying website hosting related software. Contains numerous data sets, each representing a different approach to the analysis, and provides an insight into various modelling techniques. This text is primarily aimed at medical statisticians, researchers and practitioners from public health and epidemiology. It is also suitable for postgraduate students of statistics and epidemiology, as well professionals working in government agencies.

This book provides a practical, comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the use of spatial statistics in epidemiology - the study of the incidence and distribution of diseases. Used appropriately, spatial analytical methods in conjunction with GIS and remotely sensed data can provide significant insights into the biological patterns and processes that underlie disease transmission. In turn, these can be used to understand and predict disease prevalence. This user-friendly text brings together the specialised and widely-dispersed literature on spatial analysis to make these methodological tools accessible to epidemiologists for the first time. With its focus is on application rather than theory, Spatial Analysis in Epidemiology includes a wide range of examples taken from both medical (human) and veterinary (animal) disciplines, and describes both infectious diseases and non-infectious conditions. Furthermore, it provides worked examples of methodologies using a single data set from the same disease example throughout, and is structured to follow the logical sequence of description of spatial data, visualisation, exploration, modelling and decision support. This accessible text is aimed at graduate students and researchers dealing with spatial data in the fields of epidemiology (both medical and veterinary), ecology, zoology and parasitology, environmental science, geography and statistics.