Statistical Methods in Spatial Epidemiology [Hardcover]

Andrew B. Lawson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0471975729 | ISBN-13: 978-0471975724 | Edition: 1

Spatial Epidemiology is a rapidly growing field of research concerned with the analysis of the geographical distribution of disease. This principally involves mapping the location of disease cases and the analysis of the mapped data using spatial statistical methods. The growth of the field looks set to continue in line with increasing public, government and media concern about environmental and health issues.
* Comprehensive overview of the main statistical methods used in spatial epidemiology

* Contains many data examples - each represents a different approach to the analysis, and provides an insight into the various modelling techniques

* Describes modern simulation-based methods suitable for highly complex modelling problems

* Discusses the wide range of software available for analysing spatial data

* Contains an extensive bibliography
The first part of the book provides all the necessary definitions and terminology, introduces some data examples, and considers map construction along with some basic models. The second part covers important problems in spatial epidemiology, with detailed coverage of disease mapping, ecological analysis, disease clustering and infectious disease modelling.
Primarily aimed at medical statisticians, epidemiologists, environmental statisticians, and researchers in public health, this text will also appeal to postgraduate students of statistics or epidemiology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...an important collection of methodologies for spatial clustering and modeling and brings together interesting applications previously dispersed throughout the literature... -- Annals of the Association of American Geographers

"…full of rich ideas and methods that are useful..." (Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation, April 2005)

“...an important collection of methodologies for spatial clustering and modeling and brings together interesting applications previously dispersed throughout the literature...” (Annals of the Association of American Geographers)

"The book is laid out in two sections...there are several technical appendixes, including one on software." (Technometrics, Vol. 43, No. 4, November 2001)

"...surveys the most of the statistical methods currently available in spatial epidemiology..." (SciTech Book News, Vol. 25, No. 4, December 2001)

"a good general introduction" (Short Book Reviews, December 2001)

"...represents a good general introduction to spatial epidemiology.... I can therefore recommend the book to...a mixed audience." (Short Book Reviews, Vol. 21, No. 3, December 2001)

"I found this book very interesting" (Int Jnl of Epidemiology, Vol.30, No.6, 2001)

"a coherent and comprehensive view...I really enjoyed reading this volume." (Biometrical Journal, Vol.43, No.7, 2001)

"This book is an excellent and complete review of what is going on in the spatial epidemiology world...exciting reading, providing valuable tools for opening the doors to future research work..." (Mathematical Reviews, 2002)

"This book will therefore find a wel come home on my bookshelf..." (Biometrics, June 2002)

"...represents a good general introduction to spatial epidemiology.... I can therefore recommend the book to...a mixed audience." -- Short Book Reviews, Vol. 21, No. 3, December 2001

"...surveys the most of the statistical methods currently available in spatial epidemiology..." -- SciTech Book News, Vol. 25, No. 4, December 2001

"I found this book very interesting" -- Int Jnl of Epidemiology, Vol.30, No.6, 2001

"The book is laid out in two sections...there are several technical appendixes, including one on software." -- Technometrics, Vol. 43, No. 4, November 2001

"This book will therefore find a welcome home on my bookshelf..." -- Biometrics, June 2002

"a coherent and comprehensive view...I really enjoyed reading this volume." -- Biometrical Journal, Vol.43, No.7, 2001

From the Back Cover

Spatial epidemiology is a rapidly growing field of research concerned with the analysis of the geographical distribution of disease. This principally involves mapping the location of disease cases and the analysis of mapped data using spatial statistical methods. The growth of the field looks set to continue in line with increasing public, government and media concern about environmental issues.
* Comprehensive overview of the main statistical methods used in spatial epidemiology
* Contains many data examples - each represents a different approach to the analysis, and provides an insight into the various modelling techniques
* Describes modern simulation-based methods suitable for highly complex modelling problems
* Discusses the wide range of software available for analysing spatial data
* Contains an extensive bibliography
The first part of the book provides all the necessary definitions and terminology, introduces some data examples, and considers map construction along with some basic models. The second part covers important problems in spatial epidemiology, with detailed coverage of disease mapping, ecological analysis, disease clustering, and infectious disease modelling.

Primarily aimed at medical statisticians, epidemiologists, environmental statisticians, and researchers in public health, this text will also appeal to postgraduate students of statistics or epidemiology.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471975729
• ISBN-13: 978-0471975724
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,155,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book very bad writing, August 23, 2002

By 

Frank H. Millard (Evergreen, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Statistical Methods in Spatial Epidemiology (Hardcover)

This is a truly great book on this subject, but it is obvious that the text is mostly transcribed lecture or lab notes. The writing is so bad (run on and fragments) that the publisher should have caught this, and should provide all of us who purchased the book a free revised and updated copy.

But down to the real stuff. The author rightly critcizes the use of mapping rates by unit areas for to gain inference about disease patterns; and, provides some nifty insights into how important error modeling is; perhaps the book's real strong point. However, like most books on this subject, including the infamous Cressie, a huge assumption is made about the readers. Most public health people and epidemiologists have no clue about this area of analysis. Moreover, there needs to be a book where this stuff is presented so that most who would benefit could understand the subject matter.

If you like run on and sentence fragments and especially finding out what defines a real disease cluster then get this book.