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Review
. 2014 Dec;22(6):402-5.
doi: 10.5455/aim.2014.22.402-405. Epub 2014 Dec 19.

Health Based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and their Applications

Evangelos C Fradelos  1 , Ioanna V Papathanasiou  2 , Dimitra Mitsi  3 , Konstantinos Tsaras  2 , Christos F Kleisiaris  4 , Lambrini Kourkouta  5
Affiliations
Review

Health Based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and their Applications

Evangelos C Fradelos et al. Acta Inform Med. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Medical researches as well as the study of the Earth's surface, better still, geography are interlinked with each other; their relationship dates from antiquity. The science of Geographic Information Systems and, by extension, Geomatics engineering belongs to a discipline which is constantly developing at a global level. This sector has many applications regarding medical / epidemiological research and generally, the social sciences. Furthermore, this discipline may act as a decision making tool in the healthcare sector and it might contribute to the formulation of policies into the healthcare sector. The use of GIS so as to solve public health issues has an exponential increase and has been vital to the understanding and treatment of health problems in different geographic areas. In recent years, the use of various information technology services and software has lead health professionals to work more effectively.

Keywords: Geographic Information Systems; applications; medical research; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: NONE DECLARED.

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