Evaluating cluster alarms: A space-time scan statistic and brain cancer in Los Alamos, New Mexico

M. Kulldorff, W.F. Athas, E.J. Feuer, B.A. Miller and C.R. Key

American Journal of Public Health, 1998, vol. 88, issue 9, 1377-1380

Abstract: Objectives. This article presents a space-time scan statistic, useful for evaluating space-time cluster alarms, and illustrates the method on a recent brain cancer cluster alarm in Los Alamos, NM. Methods. The space-time scan statistic accounts for the preselection bias and multiple testing inherent in a cluster alarm. Confounders and time trends can be adjusted for. Results. The observed excess of brain cancer in Los Alamos was not statistically significant. Conclusions. The space-time scan statistic is useful as a screening tool for evaluating which cluster alarms merit further investigation and which clusters are probably chance occurrences.

Date: 1998
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1998:88:9:1377-1380_5

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