The results of this study suggest the importance of the role of environmental factors such as parks and markets in the development of cardiovascular risk.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the primary cause of death and disability in de world, and the detection of populations at risk as well as localization of vulnerable areas is essential for adequate epidemiological management. Techniques developed for spatial analysis, among them geographical information systems and spatial statistics, such as cluster detection and spatial correlation, are useful for the study of the distribution of the CVDs. These techniques, enabling recognition of events at different geographical levels of study (e.g., rural, deprived neighbourhoods, etc.), make it possible to relate CVDs to factors present in the immediate environment. The systemic literature presented here shows that this group of diseases is clustered with regard to incidence, mortality and hospitalization as well as obesity, smoking, increased glycated haemoglobin levels, hypertension physical activity and age. In addition, acquired variables such as income, residency (rural or urban) and education, contribute to CVD clustering. Both local cluster detection and spatial regression techniques give statistical weight to the findings providing valuable information that can influence response mechanisms in the health services by indicating locations in need of intervention and assignment of available resources.

Se evalúa el Nivel Tecnológico (NT) de los cultivos de arándanos (Vaccinium corymbosum) en la región del Maule-Chile según variables técnicas y características asociadas. Se determinó el NT para cada cuartel de producción utilizando la técnica de Sumatoria Lineal Ponderada y la evaluación de un equipo experto para la asignación de pesos. El procedimiento fue implementado en un Sistema de Información Geográfica, donde además se generó la cartografía temática. Los resultados indican que el 59% de la superficie de cuarteles de arándanos de la región del Maule-Chile presentan un nivel tecnológico medio (NT2), el resto de la superficie se divide entre los niveles alto y bajo (NT1 y NT3) con un 19% y 22%, respectivamente. Se concluye que el mayor porcentaje de superficie plantada de arándanos presenta tecnologías medias, apreciándose en las últimas décadas un incremento en la implementación de NT más altos.

Solastalgia is a recent concept that refers to disruptive psychological responses in people exposed to environmental degradation. The aim of this study was to determine the number of dimensions solastalgia has using a sample of people exposed to the effects of climate change in the coastal dry land of Maule region, Chile. In order to achieve this, a Scale Of Solastalgia (SOS) was designed and then validated, by means of applying it to 223 inhabitants at the municipalities of Pencahue (n = 105) and Curepto (n = 118), who were also evaluated by the Short Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT-E). Using robust validation methods (Parallel factor analysis and Omega), two dimensions were obtained for solastalgia: solace and algia. Both correlate with the SPRINT-E scale (r = 0.150, p < 0.01 and r = 0.359, p < 0.01, respectively) and have 58% sensitivity and 67% specificity to detect cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Like PTSD, solastalgia is related to psychopathologies expected after disasters and also presents a spatial pattern where the concentration of positive cases occurs in places of greater exposure to environmental change or degradation.

Frailty increases the vulnerability of older people who commonly develop a syndrome leading to growing dependence and finally often death. Physical environment conditions may affect the severity of the syndrome positive or negatively. The main objective of this study was to analyse the conditions of different urban physical environments and their relationship with the frailty syndrome in older people. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses were performed to detect global and local geographic clustering. Investigating 284 adults with ages from 60 to 74 years old from Talca City, Chile, we found spatial clustering of frailty conditions registered for older people, with hotspots of high and low values associated with areas of different urban infrastructures and socioeconomic levels into the city. The spatial identifications found should facilitate exploring the impact of mental health programmes in communities exposed to disasters like earthquakes, thereby improving their quality of life as well as reducing overall costs. Spatial correlation has a great potential for studying frailty conditions in older people with regard to better understanding the impact of environmental conditions on health.