The advancement of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the past few decades have allowed it to become a powerful tool in cancer research. The ability to connect data to location and pinpoint it on a map has proven to be useful in the incidence of cancer in populations, pushing researchers to focus on sociodemographic rather than only biomedical factors in treatment, prevention, and resource allocation programs.
Specifically, GIS can be used to study three dimensions of epidemiology: person, place and time. The person dimension is the focus of sociodemographic data, including such factors as age, sex, and race. Undoubtedly, the most innovative application of GIS is to the dimension of place, as it allows researchers to study large or small geographic areas in a variety of lenses. Through the use of GIS, the dimension of time, including such factors as the date of diagnosis, death or recurrence of cancer, can be connected with these other dimensions.
These systems offer unique ways of handling data. Some GIS functions include the abilities to integrate data from several sources, measure the degree to which people are exposed to carcinogens such as pesticides, and even smooth over any irregularities in the data that may be over-emphasized. Most notably, GIS creates the opportunity to represent these data visually, on many kinds of maps and using many types of features. For instance, researchers may represent cancer cases on a map with dots, then add polygons to represent areas with potential hazards. This broad representation then allows researchers to study risk factors on an individual level with more traditional methods, such as cohorts.
Another important GIS tools for cancer research include spatial analysis. The primary application of spatial analysis is to test for clusters of cancer cases, which prompts researchers to search for possible risk factors in that geographic area. However, spatial analysis is increasingly being used for periodic monitoring of known cancer clusters as a part of surveillance programs instead of programs that react to cluster alarms after they occur.
Finally, GIS can also be used for prediction and estimation in the use of mathematical models. Using spatial interpolation, researchers can estimate the level of carcinogen exposure in certain locations.
Of course, there are limits to the use of GIS. Because it involves a collection of data from several sources, researchers must be careful in creating statistics and interpreting data. This is especially true in rural areas, where inferences about patterns in a large population may not be applicable to a small, sparse number of people.
Despite these limitations, the functions of GIS in data management, visualization, spatial analysis, and modeling have clearly become useful devices for cancer research. The use of GIS has even become transformative, prompting stronger emphasis on sociodemographic factors and environmental exposure.
Nsajafabadi, A.T., and M. Pourhassan. “Integrating the geographic information system into cancer research.” Indian Journal of Cancer 48, no. 1: 105-109. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost.
The use of GIS in cancer research is something I never really thought about. There are many countries around the world that don't have high cancer rates and it would be an interesting comparison. I wonder what all those different countries would look like and what factors could be important - difficult to know where to start!
ReplyDeleteI believe that as this research progresses it would be interesting to see the patterns that come about and where cancer is most prominant. Further conclusions can be draw from the GIS information, as to why cancer develops in certain areas. It is true however that it would be tough to compare results in urban areas to results found in smaller rural areas.
ReplyDeleteFrom the articles/summaries I have read so far this semester, including this one, I have realized how beneficial GIS can be for issues of health and also issues concerning the environment. The ability of GIS to combine and analyze multiple datasets provides an invaluable presentation of data for these topics. I think both environmental and health issues have so many potential factors influencing them that must be considered to understand the full picture. It seems to be a more commonly held belief that social, political, economic, etc. issues can have an impact on the environment and on an individual's health and GIS is the perfect way to represent that!
ReplyDeleteThe history of spatial analysis and health goes far back to John Snow is 1854 with the cholera outbreaks of London. His investigation is a major fondation in what can be done with GIS, taking information and turning it into data to draw conclusions. Although his GIS was "analog", today digital GIS is unlocking this potential in powerful ways. Information systems in general are very helpful for health and has lead to a new field of Health IT, which takes bioinformatics, statistics, information science, and now GIS into account when analyzing health records to find relationships between environment, behaviors, and genetics and heath. For those interested in public health, the next step on the technology front is to learn programs like SPSS and general statistical analysis and modeling.
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