 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Marilyn A. Winkleby, PhD, MPH, Catherine Cubbin, PhD, Namita Oswal, Ying-Chih Chuang, PhD, David Ahn, and Naomi Kawakami. Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1000 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1825, 650-723-7055, winkleby@stanford.edu
Although epidemiologists have traditionally used maps for analyzing associations between location, environment, and disease, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) remain an underutilized tool in the field of epidemiology. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate GIS tools for public health, using data from a five-year NIH-funded study investigating the influences of neighborhood physical and social environments on health behaviors, risk factors, and mortality. Sources of data for the presentation include: (1) sociodemograhic and risk factor information from 8,419 women and men aged 25-74 from the Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program (SHDPP) conducted from 1979-1990; (2) neighborhood-level socioeconomic information from census data (1980, 1990); (3) mortality data through 2000; and (4) neighborhood-level goods, services, and community resources from historical data (e.g., alcohol licenses, telephone directories, State Board of Equalization, voting records). The SHDPP participants lived in 82 different neighborhoods in four northern California cities. The demonstration will illustrate GIS tools in ArcView software that were used to: (1) define neighborhoods (based on participants' addresses, consultation with city planners, and census boundaries); (2) visualize data sources to avoid discrepancies of neighborhood boundaries and minimize loss of outliers (using buffer zones); (3) conduct spatial analyses (e.g., proximity and density measures of goods, services, and community resources); and (4) construct websites for disseminating study results and health education information to study communities.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.