International Journal of Health Geographics (Nov 2007)

Effect of spatial resolution on cluster detection: a simulation study

  • White Laura,
  • Manjourides Justin,
  • Jeffery Caroline,
  • Ozonoff Al,
  • Pagano Marcello

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-6-52
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 1
p. 52

Abstract

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Abstract Background Aggregation of spatial data is intended to protect privacy, but some effects of aggregation on spatial methods have not yet been quantified. Methods 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. Results Power to detect clusters decreased from nearly 100% when using exact locations to roughly 40% at the coarsest level of spatial resolution. Conclusion Aggregation has the potential for obfuscation.