Effect of spatial resolution on cluster detection: a simulation study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aggregation of spatial data is intended to protect privacy, but some effects of aggregation on spatial methods have not yet been quantified.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We generated 3,000 spatial data sets and evaluated power of detection at 12 different levels of aggregation using the spatial scan statistic implemented in SaTScan v6.0.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Power to detect clusters decreased from nearly 100% when using exact locations to roughly 40% at the coarsest level of spatial resolution.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Aggregation has the potential for obfuscation.</p>

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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   On the use of ZIP codes and ZIP code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) for the spatial analysis of epidemiological data. · 2006

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