International Journal of Health Geographics

BACKGROUND: Taxi drivers in a Chinese megacity are frequently exposed to traffic-related particulate matter (PM2.5 ) due to their job nature, busy road traffic, and urban density. A robust method to quantify dynamic population exposure to PM2.5 among taxi drivers is important for occupational risk prevention, however, it is limited by data availability. METHODS: This study proposed a rapid assessment of dynamic exposure to PM2.5 among drivers based on satellite-derived information, air quality data from monitoring stations, and GPS-based taxi trajectory data...

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that COVID-19 affects people at socioeconomic disadvantage more strongly. Previous studies investigating the association between geographical deprivation and COVID-19 outcomes in Italy reported no differences in case-hospitalisation and case-fatality. The objective of this research was to compare the usefulness of the geographic and individual deprivation index (DI) in assessing the associations between individuals' deprivation and risk of Sars-CoV-2 infection and disease severity in the Apulia region from February to December 2020...

Current research on public spaces and mental health often focuses on the independent relationship of one or more social mediators, neglecting the nuanced implications and serial mechanisms inherent in the progressive social process. Using Wuhan city, China, as a study case with multi-source data, this research applies Multilevel Generalized Structural Equation Modeling and deep learning techniques to explore the differential effects of public spaces with varying degrees of publicness (i.e., typical, semi-, and privately owned) on rural migrants' mental health...

BACKGROUND: Assuring that emergency health care (EHC) is accessible is a key objective for health care planners. Conventional accessibility analysis commonly relies on resident population data. However, the allocation of resources based on stationary population data may lead to erroneous assumptions of population accessibility to EHC. METHOD: Therefore, in this paper, we calculate population accessibility to emergency departments in Sweden with a geographical information system based network analysis...

BACKGROUND: Increasing inequalities in accessibility to primary care has generated medical deserts. Identifying them is key to target the geographic areas where action is needed. An extensive definition of primary care has been promoted by the World Health Organization: a first level of contact with the health system, which involves the co-presence of different categories of health professionals alongside the general practitioner for the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Previous analyses have focused mainly on a single type of provider while this study proposes an integrated approach including various ones to define medical deserts in primary care...

BACKGROUND: Increasing disability is of global and national concern. Lack of evidence on disability across socioeconomic groups and geographic levels (especially small areas) impeded interventions for these disadvantaged subgroups. We aimed to examine the socioeconomic and geographic variations in disabilities, namely hearing, speech, visual, mental, and locomotor, in Indian participants using cross-sectional data from the National Family Health Survey 2019-2021. METHODS: Using data from 27,93,971 individuals, we estimated age-sex-adjusted disability rates at the national and sub-national levels...

BACKGROUND: Geographic access to food may affect dietary choices and health outcomes, but the strength and direction of associations may depend on the operationalization of exposure measures. We aimed to systematically review the literature on up-to-date evidence on the association between food environment exposures based on Global Positioning System (GPS) and diet-related and cardiometabolic health outcomes. METHODS: The databases PubMed, Embase.com, APA PsycInfo (via Ebsco), Cinahl (via Ebsco), the Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (via ProQuest) were searched from inception to October 31, 2022...

The impact of objective and subjective environmental factors on health outcomes has been a topic of significant debate, with a growing body of research acknowledging the role of a physically active lifestyle in promoting health. However, consensus regarding their precise influence remains elusive. This study contributes to these discussions by exploring how individual health outcomes correlate with transport and leisure walking behaviours, set against both the objective and subjective aspects of environmental influences in the context of Wuhan, an inland Chinese megacity...

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis, control of blood glucose levels and cardiovascular risk factors, and regular screening are essential to prevent or delay complications of diabetes. However, most adults with diabetes do not meet recommended targets, and some populations have disproportionately high rates of potentially preventable diabetes-related hospitalizations. Understanding the factors that contribute to geographic disparities can guide resource allocation and help ensure that future interventions are designed to meet the specific needs of these communities...

OBJECTIVES: To perform geographic contour analysis of sea and land ambulance rescue times in an archipelago subject to super typhoons; to design point-of-care testing strategies for medical emergencies and weather disasters made more intense by global warming and rising oceans; and to assess needs for prehospital testing on spatial care paths that accelerate decision making, increase efficiency, improve outcomes, and enhance standards of care in island nations. METHODS: We performed needs assessments, inspected healthcare facilities, and collected ambulance rescue times from professionals in the Bantayan Archipelago, Philippines...

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a significant health issue globally and it is well known that cancer risk varies geographically. However in many countries there are no small area-level data on cancer risk factors with high resolution and complete reach, which hinders the development of targeted prevention strategies. METHODS: Using Australia as a case study, the 2017-2018 National Health Survey was used to generate prevalence estimates for 2221 small areas across Australia for eight cancer risk factor measures covering smoking, alcohol, physical activity, diet and weight...

Identifying clusters or hotspots from disease maps is critical in research and practice. Hotspots have been shown to have a higher potential for transmission risk and may be the source of infections, making them a priority for controlling epidemics. However, the role of edge areas of hotspots in disease transmission remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the role of edge areas in disease transmission by examining whether disease incidence rate growth is higher in the edges of disease hotspots during outbreaks...

BACKGROUND: As the COVID-19 pandemic became a major global health crisis, many COVID-19 control measures that use individual-level georeferenced data (e.g., the locations of people's residences and activities) have been used in different countries around the world. Because these measures involve some disclosure risk and have the potential for privacy violations, people's concerns for geoprivacy (locational privacy) have recently heightened as a result, leading to an urgent need to understand and address the geoprivacy issues associated with COVID-19 control measures that use data on people's private locations...

BACKGROUND: Quantifying spatial access to care-the interplay of accessibility and availability-is vital for healthcare planning and understanding implications of services (mal-)distribution. A plethora of methods aims to measure potential spatial access to healthcare services. The current study conducts a systematic review to identify and assess gravity model-type methods for spatial healthcare access measurement and to summarize the use of these measures in empirical research. METHODS: A two-step approach was used to identify (1) methodological studies that presented a novel gravity model for measuring spatial access to healthcare and (2) empirical studies that applied one of these methods in a healthcare context...

BACKGROUND: Using human mobility as a proxy for social interaction, previous studies revealed bidirectional associations between COVID-19 incidence and human mobility. For example, while an increase in COVID-19 cases may affect mobility to decrease due to lockdowns or fear, conversely, an increase in mobility can potentially amplify social interactions, thereby contributing to an upsurge in COVID-19 cases. Nevertheless, these bidirectional relationships exhibit variations in their nature, evolve over time, and lack generalizability across different geographical contexts...

BACKGROUND: Both incidence and mortality of gastric cancer in Gansu rank first in china, this study aimed to describe the recent prevalence of gastric cancer and explore the social and environmental determinants of gastric cancer in Gansu Province. METHODS: The incidence of gastric cancer in each city of Gansu Province was calculated by utilizing clinical data from patients with gastric cancer (2013-2021) sourced from the medical big data platform of the Gansu Province Health Commission, and demographic data provided by the Gansu Province Bureau of Statistics...

BACKGROUND: African trypanosomiasis is a tsetse-borne parasitic infection that affects humans, wildlife, and domesticated animals. Tsetse flies are endemic to much of Sub-Saharan Africa and a spatial and temporal understanding of tsetse habitat can aid surveillance and support disease risk management. Problematically, current fine spatial resolution remote sensing data are delivered with a temporal lag and are relatively coarse temporal resolution (e.g., 16 days), which results in disease control models often targeting incorrect places...

BACKGROUND: It has been pointed out that eye-level greenery streetscape promotes leisure walking which is known to be a health -positive physical activity. Most previous studies have focused on the total amount of greenery in the eye-level streetscape to investigate its association with walking behaviour. While it is acknowledged that taller trees contribute to greener environments, providing enhanced physical and psychological comfort compared to lawns and shrubs, the examination of streetscape metrics specifically focused on greenery height remains largely unexplored...

BACKGROUND: Correctly identifying spatial disease cluster is a fundamental concern in public health and epidemiology. The spatial scan statistic is widely used for detecting spatial disease clusters in spatial epidemiology and disease surveillance. Many studies default to a maximum reported cluster size (MRCS) set at 50% of the total population when searching for spatial clusters. However, this default setting can sometimes report clusters larger than true clusters, which include less relevant regions...

BACKGROUND: Mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit pose a significant public health threat worldwide, causing more fatalities than any other animal. To effectively combat this issue, there is a need for increased public awareness and mosquito control. However, traditional surveillance programs are time-consuming, expensive, and lack scalability. Fortunately, the widespread availability of mobile devices with high-resolution cameras presents a unique opportunity for mosquito surveillance...