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Activity Number:
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380
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Type:
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Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
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Sponsor:
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Biometrics Section
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| Abstract - #305358 |
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Title:
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An Exact Test to Detect Geographic Aggregations of Events
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Author(s):
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Rhonda J. Rosychuk*+ and Jason L. Stuber
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Companies:
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University of Alberta and Mathematical Sciences Inc.
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Address:
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9423 Aberhart Centre, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2J3, Canada
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Keywords:
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Disease cluster detection ; multiple hypergeometric ; disease surveillance ; emergency presentations
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Abstract:
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Traditional approaches to statistical disease cluster detection focus on the identification of geographic areas with high numbers of incident or prevalent cases of disease. Events related to disease may be more appropriate for analysis in some contexts. We provide a new approach for the detection of aggregations of events by testing individual administrative areas that may be combined with their nearest neighbors. The approach is based on exact probabilities for the numbers of events in a tested geographic area. The test are analogous to the cluster detection test given by Besag and Newell (1991) and does not require distributional assumptions as a similar test proposed by Rosychuk et al. (2006). The population and events for each area as well as a nearest neighbor spatial relationship are required. The methodology is illustrated on presentations to emergency department.
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