Hierarchical regionalization for spatial epidemiology: a case study of thyroid cancer incidence in Yiwu, Zhejiang
10.3760/cma.j.issn.0254-6450.2015.10.023
- VernacularTitle:空间流行病学分析中细小单元的区域化归并方法:以义乌市甲状腺癌为例
- Author:
Shizhu TENG
1
;
Qiaojuan JIA
;
Yijian HUANG
;
Liangcao CHEN
;
Xufeng FEI
;
Jiaping WU
Author Information
1. 322000,浙江省义乌市疾病预防控制中心
- Keywords:
Geographic regionalization;
Thyroid cancer;
Spatial analysis
- From:Chinese Journal of Epidemiology
2015;36(10):1142-1147
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective Sporadic cases occurring in mall geographic unit could lead to extreme value of incidence due to the small population bases,which would influence the analysis of actual incidence.Methods This study introduced a method of hierarchy clustering and partitioning regionalization,which integrates areas with small population into larger areas with enough population by using Geographic Information System (GIS) based on the principles of spatial continuity and geographical similarity (homogeneity test).This method was applied in spatial epidemiology by using a data set of thyroid cancer incidence in Yiwu,Zhejiang province,between 2010 and 2013.Results Thyroid cancer incidence data were more reliable and stable in the new regionalized areas.Hotspot analysis (Getis-Ord) on the incidence in new areas indicated that there was obvious case clustering in the central area of Yiwu.Conclusion This method can effectively solve the problem of small population base in small geographic units in spatial epidemiological analysis of thyroid cancer incidence and can be used for other diseases and in other areas.
