236111 Development of a GIS Geospatial Module for Environmental Public Health Data

Monday, October 31, 2011

Min Qi Wang, PhD, MS , Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
John T. Braggio, PhD, MPH , Environmental Health Coordination and Public Health Residency Programs, Maryland Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, MD
Jed L. Miller, MD, MPH , Maryland Department of the Environment, Baltimore, MD
Rashid Malik , Environmental Health Coordination and Public Health Residency Programs, Maryland Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, MD
Valerie Agwale , Environmental Health Coordination and Public Health Residency Programs, Maryland Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, MD
Clifford S. Mitchell, MS, MD, MPH , Environmental Health Coordination and Public Health Residency Programs, Maryland Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, MD
Background: This presentation will demonstrate the GIS functionalities of the Maryland Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (EPHTN), developed by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Objective: The primary current purpose of the EPHTN is to explore relationships between environmental hazards and health outcomes.

Method: The MEPHTN now includes State data for asthma, myocardial infarction, cancer, birth defects, low birth weight, blood lead, ozone, PM2.5, and water quality. The MEPHTN Website was developed, with Google Maps, ArcGIS Server 9.3.1, and the Oracle database under a Windows server. Now available computed results include counts, age adjusted rates, 95% confidence intervals, and statistics, such as Chi Square. Computations were written in C# as one of the utility functions.

Result: A user submitted query function is executed and the results are displayed in tables and graphs. Users can also query zip, county, or other polygons by using GIS. Statistical results can display unlimited combination of available years for temporal trends in various graphics. Multiple GIS tools—lines, points, polygons, and rectangles--give users even more flexibility in querying maps. Users can also download customized maps that can display unlimited combinations of years for environmental hazards and health outcomes. Web query functions permit users to browse and examine all possible combinations of results, which are only limited by the row-column selection limits in tables and graphs.

Conclusion: When completed, the MEPHTN will become a unique resource of environmental public health data, enhanced by the future addition of biomonitoring results, for use by researchers, policy makers, health professionals, and the public.

Learning Areas:
Biostatistics, economics
Environmental health sciences
Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
(1) Displays public health data; (2) Utilizes geospatial and statistical information in map displays; and (3) Enables authorized users to evaluate environmental health data in local and regional settings.

Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Information Technology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have developed a number of projects in the health informatics area.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Using Geoinformatics to Improve Community Health
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