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Review
. 2022 Oct 6;19(19):12765.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph191912765.

Evidence-Based Conceptual Collection of Methods for Spatial Epidemiology and Analysis to Enhance Cancer Surveillance and Public Health

Dimitra Sifaki-Pistolla  1 , Vasiliki Eirini Chatzea  1 , Elpiniki Frouzi  1 , Enkeleint A Mechili  1 , Georgia Pistolla  1 , George Nikiforidis  2 , Vassilis Georgoulias  1 , Christos Lionis  1 , Nikos Tzanakis  1
Affiliations
Review

Evidence-Based Conceptual Collection of Methods for Spatial Epidemiology and Analysis to Enhance Cancer Surveillance and Public Health

Dimitra Sifaki-Pistolla et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

(1) Background: Although spatial statistics are often used by cancer epidemiologists, there is not yet an established collection of methods to serve their needs. We aimed to develop an evidence-based cancer-oriented conceptual collection of methods for spatial analysis; (2) Methods: A triangulation of approaches was used; literature review, consensus meetings (expert panel), and testing the selected methods on "training" databases. The literature review was conducted in three databases. This approach guided the development of a collection of methods that was subsequently commented on by the expert panel and tested on "training data" of cancer cases obtained from the Cancer Registry of Crete based on three epidemiological scenarios: (a) low prevalence cancers, (b) high prevalence cancers, (c) cancer and risk factors; (3) Results: The final spatial epidemiology conceptual collection of methods covered: data preparation/testing randomness, data protection, mapping/visualizing, geographic correlation studies, clustering/surveillance, integration of cancer data with socio-economic, clinical and environmental factors. Some of the tests/techniques included in the conceptual collection of methods were: buffer and proximity analysis, exploratory spatial analysis and others. All suggested that statistical models were found to fit well (R2 = 0.72-0.96) in "training data"; Conclusions: The proposed conceptual collection of methods provides public health professionals with a useful methodological framework along with recommendations for assessing diverse research questions of global health.

Keywords: cancer; cancer surveillance; chronic diseases; environmental epidemiology; global health; respiratory diseases; spatial epidemiology; spatial statistics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of eligible assessment and review process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Geographical distribution of oral cancer Age-Standardized Incidence Rates/100,000/year in Crete, (Source: Cancer Registry of Crete).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Geographical distribution and temporal trends of colorectal Age-Standardized Mortality Rates/100,000/year in Crete, (Source: Cancer Registry of Crete).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Lung cancer Relative Risk (RR) for mortality using all significant predictors [14].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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