[Analysis of spatial data in public health: methods, problems, and perspectives].
Studies in which spatial distribution and geographic information systems (GIS) play a central role are becoming more common in the public health literature. However, methods and software to implement such approaches still pose serious limitations, due to unfriendliness and lack of integration. Additionally, most researchers and public health professionals are not familiar with either the techniques or the software. The aim of this work, besides presenting a systematic review of spatial analysis in health, is to discuss some representative applications of methods that deal with the analysis of spatial patterns of health events, analyzing advantages, disadvantages, and applicability of the proposed models in ecological and health services utilization studies.
Carvalho
Marilia Sá
MS
Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. carvalho@fiocruz.br
Souza-Santos
Reinaldo
R
D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software