Geographic information systems (GIS) provide a variety of tools for the manipulation and display of public health data. Few, however, enable users to interactively evaluate hypotheses on spatial trends in disease risk that may be suggested by maps of measures of disease impact. We addressed this limitation by developing a seamless interface between a commercial GIS and a suite of spatial analysis algorithms. Users of the system can utilize the GIS's capability to interactively select and manipulate geographically referenced data and, through a series of pull-down menus, apply a variety of exploratory analysis methods to this information. In the presented application, we illustrate this capability by including algorithms for the reduction of random noise in observed incidence rates, for the detection of unusual aggregations of disease events, and for the statistical evaluation of inferences drawn from spatial trends. We demonstrate this application by examining lung cancer mortality in the state of Ohio.
An effective environmental public health surveillance system utilizes health hazard, exposure, and health outcome data to provide public health professionals a picture of the relationship between the environment and health. The environmental monitoring and the health and hazard exposure surveillance systems that currently exist are generally not compatible with one another. There exists a lack of common standards in how data are collected, including where data are collected, the frequency of collection, the characteristics collected, and data formats. Among other uses, the Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Network will address weaknesses and gaps associated with utilizing and linking these types of data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's EPHT Program has engaged several interdisciplinary partners to help in developing requirements and to identify functionalities to be included in the network. In working toward implementation, EPHT specialists and the partners have begun to develop several major components and address several challenges.
Adding the ability to view multiple measures is an important step to improve Tracking Network users' exploration of the environmental health status of their communities. With this capability, public health practitioners and other users can formulate hypotheses, analyze trends, and explore possible relationships across a wide variety of environmental and health information.
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