GIS for Public Health

U. S. Counties Data: The U. S. County data was collected from ESRI as a feature class. The original data was in vector form since each state was outlined to the county level as polygons. The data will be used as a source for the geometry of our project. Since the data was collected in 2014, the demographic information for analysis will be used from other sources. The data is still a good source because county lines have not changed to affect the representation of the data.   

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Diabetes Prevalence County Health Rankings: The Diabetes Prevalence County Health Rankings data was collected from a table from the County Health Rankings website. The data shows the prevalence of diabetes at the county level from 2011-2013. The data was originally presented as a percent and number of people with diabetes in each county. The purpose of this data is to determine any spatial correlations between counties with a high prevalence of diabetes.

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Obesity Prevalence: The Obesity Prevalence data was collected at the county level from the CDC as a spreadsheet from 2004-2013. In order to maintain consistency, only data from 2011-2013 will be used for analysis. The data is still useful for analysis in order to compare the trend of obesity rates per county over the course of time. Obesity was chosen as a variable to consider because obesity has been shown to increase the risk of common chronic conditions. By analyzing obesity we can determine if obesity is related to chronic diseases, such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes.

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Demographic, Social, and Environmental Factors: The Demographic, Social, and Environmental Factors data was collected from an interactive atlas from the CDC as a spreadsheet from 2011-2013 at the county level. The general demographic and lifestyle factors will be used to analyze potential effects on chronic conditions.

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Deaths and Hospitalizations from Heart Disease, Heart Failure, Stroke, Hypertension, and Diabetes: The Death and Hospitalizations from Heart Disease, Heart Failure, Stroke, Hypertension, and Diabetes data was collected from an interactive atlas from the CDC from 2011-2013 at the county level. The purpose of the data will be to identify any spatial patterns related to the number of deaths or hospitalizations for each condition at the county level.

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Physical Inactivity: Physical Inactivity data was collected at the county level from a CDC spreadsheet from 2004-2013. In order to maintain consistency, only data from 2011-2013 will be used for analysis. The data is still useful for analysis in order to compare the trend of physical inactivity rates per county over the course of time. Physical inactivity is often used as an indicator for obesity and other chronic conditions. Physical inactivity will be analyzed for possible correlations to the chronic conditions to be examined.

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Diabetes Prevalence: Diabetes Prevalence data was collected at the county level from a CDC spreadsheet from 2004-2013.  In order to maintain consistency, only data from 2011-2013 will be used for analysis. The data is still useful for analysis in order to compare the trend of diabetes rates per county over the course of time. This data in comparison to the data from County Health Rankings contains the age-adjusted percentages of diabetics for each county. This data will be used to identify spatial patterns of prevalence.

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Business Analyst: Data from Business Analyst was collected at the county level. The data will be used in order identify any additional lifestyle factors or other contributing factors to heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. The data will be used to identify any correlations between expenditures on fast food, fruits, vegetables, and tobacco products and any of the chronic conditions.

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Compressed Mortality Rates: All cause mortality rates was collected at the county level from the CDC from 2011-2013 as a spreadsheet. The data will be used in order to calculate percentage death rates for the different chronic conditions to compare death rates more accurately.