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

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.

Localization is involved everywhere in epidemiology: health phenomena often involve spatial relationships among individuals and risk factors related to geography and environment. Therefore, the use of localization in the analysis and comprehension of health phenomena is essential. This book describes the objectives, principles, methods and tools of spatial analysis and geographic information systems applied to the field of health, and more specifically to the study of the spatial distribution of disease and health–environment relationships. It is a practical introduction to spatial and spatio-temporal analysis for epidemiology and health geography, and takes an educational approach illustrated with real-world examples. Epidemiology and Geography presents a complete and straightforward overview of the use of spatial analysis in epidemiology for students, public health professionals, epidemiologists, health geographers and specialists in health–environment studies.

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

This is a new paperback edition of the well received text Spatial Epid emiology: Methods and Applications. It is an easy to read, clear and c oncise exploration of the field of geographical variations in diseases . Especially with respect to variations in environmental exposures at the small-area scale this book gives an authoriative account of curren t practice and developments. The recent and rapid expansion of the fie ld looks set to continue in line with growing public, governmental and media concern about environmental and health issues, and the scientif ic need to understand and explain the effects of environmental polluta nts on health.

While mapped data provide a common ground for discussions between the public, the media, regulatory agencies, and public health researchers, the analysis of spatially referenced data has experienced a phenomenal growth over the last two decades, thanks in part to the development of geographical information systems (GISs). This is the first thorough overview to integrate spatial statistics with data management and the display capabilities of GIS. It describes methods for assessing the likelihood of observed patterns and quantifying the link between exposures and outcomes in spatially correlated data. This introductory text is designed to serve as both an introduction for the novice and a reference for practitioners in the field Requires only minimal background in public health and only some knowledge of statistics through multiple regression Touches upon some advanced topics, such as random effects, hierarchical models and spatial point processes, but does not require prior exposure Includes lavish use of figures/illustrations throughout the volume as well as analyses of several data sets (in the form of "data breaks") Exercises based on data analyses reinforce concepts