Using GIS to Address Epidemiologic Research Questions

Purpose of ReviewGIS provide us with a view of human health that cannot be obtained by other methods. The review considers recent uses of GIS to address epidemiologic questions by taking into account their spatial dimensions, highlighting the most commonly adopted methods and current trends.Recent FindingsMethods for geocoding individual health data vary by place depending on the databases available and are not always described in sufficient detail. Open and proprietary online geocoding services are becoming more widely used, but they pose issues for health research. Spatial scan statistics have been joined by statistics measuring spatial autocorrelation as key methods for detecting clusters. Numerous studies revealing significant global and local patterns in health conditions are leading to increased interest in methods, such as geographically weighted regression, to explore spatially varying relationships between factors and outcomes. The software packages for clustering and geographically weighted regression analyses are generally available in free downloadable packages. Health research using these methods is now being conducted in every region of the world, but much of this work appears outside mainstream epidemiology journals.SummaryThe spatial data handling capabilities of GIS have made it possible to manage and analyze health data in new ways. Technological change affecting how health researchers acquire and process the digital spatial data required to use GIS to answer epidemiologic questions presents challenges for the future.