Mapping Disease at an Approximated Individual Level Using Aggregate Data: A Case Study of Mapping New Hampshire Birth Defects

Xun Shi, Stephanie Miller, Kevin Mwenda, Akikazu Onda, Judy Rees, Tracy Onega, Jiang Gui, Margaret Karagas, Eugene Demidenko and John Moeschler
Additional contact information
Xun Shi: Department of Geography, Dartmouth College, 6017 Fairchild, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Stephanie Miller: The Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA
Kevin Mwenda: Department of Geography, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Akikazu Onda: Department of Geography, Dartmouth College, 6017 Fairchild, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Judy Rees: The Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA
Tracy Onega: The Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA
Jiang Gui: The Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA
Margaret Karagas: The Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA
Eugene Demidenko: The Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA
John Moeschler: The Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Limited by data availability, most disease maps in the literature are for relatively large and subjectively-defined areal units, which are subject to problems associated with polygon maps. High resolution maps based on objective spatial units are needed to more precisely detect associations between disease and environmental factors. Method: We propose to use a Restricted and Controlled Monte Carlo (RCMC) process to disaggregate polygon-level location data to achieve mapping aggregate data at an approximated individual level. RCMC assigns a random point location to a polygon-level location, in which the randomization is restricted by the polygon and controlled by the background (e.g., population at risk). RCMC allows analytical processes designed for individual data to be applied, and generates high-resolution raster maps. Results: We applied RCMC to the town-level birth defect data for New Hampshire and generated raster maps at the resolution of 100 m. Besides the map of significance of birth defect risk represented by p- value, the output also includes a map of spatial uncertainty and a map of hot spots. Conclusions: RCMC is an effective method to disaggregate aggregate data. An RCMC-based disease mapping maximizes the use of available spatial information, and explicitly estimates the spatial uncertainty resulting from aggregation.

Keywords: birth defects; aggregate data; disaggregation; Monte Carlo; disease mapping; New Hampshire (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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