Spatial Point Pattern Analyses and its Use in Geographical Epidemiology

Abstract

Spatial epidemiology is a subfield of health geography focused on the study of the spatial distribution of health outcomes. Point pattern analysis is the evaluation of the pattern, or distribution, of a set of points on a surface. It can refer to the actual spatial or temporal location of these points or also include data from point sources. It is one of the most fundamental concepts in geography and spatial analysis. In this study, geographical epidemiology, data for spatial analysis, disease clustering, disease mapping are introduced. This paper also includes applications in environmental epidemiology and geographical epidemiology with spatial point pattern analysis.