Abstract

GIS Analysis of Factors Associated with Cancer Incidence in Ohio
Track: Health and Human Services
Authors: Qing Shi

The Objective of this study is to demonstrate the use of spatial analysis method in GIS to assess how cancer risk disparity has been affected by socioeconomic inequality and risk behaviors in Ohio. The ordinary least squares approach in GIS spatial analysis was used to examine the relationship between the cancer incidence rate in Ohio and nine indicators of socioeconomic inequalities and risk behavior in Ohio. The nine variables include unemployment; low education attainment; no medical insurance; heavy drinking; tobacco chewing; current cigarette smoking; lacking of physical activities; obesity and consuming less than 5 servings of fruits/vegetables per day. The results showed that, with a few exceptions, both socioeconomic inequality tends to be more closely related to cancer risk than risk behaviors.