Methods of mortality (incidence) rates interpretation assessment in small populations.
Findings and procedures include in this article have been realized at Regional Public Health Office in Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) within the period from August 1999 to February 2000. The model sample used in this article dealed only with events of neoplasms incidence in men's population in the region of Eastern Bohemia within the period from 1986 to 1997. The original experimental part concerned to the use of procedures for demographical data standardization for target group of "small populations" including of their selection and spatial distribution. As the result of it, there are topical maps of spatial distribution of incidence (event. mortality) of selected diagnoses according to sex with target area units delimitated by methods of regional geography with around 120 km2 and total average number about 10000 inhabitants. Thanks to using of cluster analysis these maps include inside aggregated information about standardized ratio value, expression of its reliability rate. The original system has been tested thanks to software application and methodical procedures developed by author of this article in the connection with progressive information technology of geographical information system GIS SPANS which all allow quite easily to carry out the detection of another diagnoses spatial distribution within selected resolution and provided data. Mentioned above conclusions may be suggested as a basic descriptive method for the health risk assessment. Another analytical procedures can follow this original method in next phases. The method has brought essentially new view of the disease spatial distribution which has not been used in the Czech Republic in such a range and detail yet. There are being uncovered great possibilities that could in the end contribute to discovering of causal connections - mainly diseases with unfavourable development in time series. At the same time the introductory premise about spatial distribution of events to "skip" with the change of resolution has been confirmed.
Jón
Z
Z
Regional Public Health Office, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. ZdenekJon@seznam.cz
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D017062:Small-Area Analysis