Project Advisor(s) (Students Only)

Dr. Lena Hann

Presentation Type (All Applicants)

Poster Presentation

Disciplines (All Applicants)

Epidemiology | Geographic Information Sciences | Geography | Medicine and Health Sciences | Public Health | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement

Traumatic injury is a blanket term referring to acute physical injuries which pose an immediate threat to life and limb, requiring urgent medical care. Unintentional injuries are the fifth-leading cause of death, and fatal injuries cost the American economy over $84 billion annually in lost work and medical costs. Scott County, IA, is a unique environment for trauma research because it served by a single trauma center and features within its 458 square miles distinct urban and rural populations. Patient data from the trauma registry, including age, race, and mechanism of injury (MOI) was combined with the corresponding spatial data from the Scott Emergency Communications Center (SECC) to build an integrated spatial data set. The spatial data was then visualized using geographic information systems (GIS) software to create a heat map of trauma incidence. This heat map and corresponding data set were used to identify extreme outlying areas of trauma incidence and determine which mechanisms of injury were most prevalent in Scott County. This research project enabled stakeholders to assess the impact of trauma on the Scott County community, identify environmental factors contributing to trauma incidence, and position resources appropriately to respond to traumatic injuries. Furthermore, this project demonstrated the efficacy of GIS to accurately assess, map and analyze complex healthcare and public health issues.

Comments

Public Health Senior Inquiry

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Spatial epidemiology of summer trauma in Scott County, IA: Use of GIS to identify trauma incidence in urban and rural areas

Traumatic injury is a blanket term referring to acute physical injuries which pose an immediate threat to life and limb, requiring urgent medical care. Unintentional injuries are the fifth-leading cause of death, and fatal injuries cost the American economy over $84 billion annually in lost work and medical costs. Scott County, IA, is a unique environment for trauma research because it served by a single trauma center and features within its 458 square miles distinct urban and rural populations. Patient data from the trauma registry, including age, race, and mechanism of injury (MOI) was combined with the corresponding spatial data from the Scott Emergency Communications Center (SECC) to build an integrated spatial data set. The spatial data was then visualized using geographic information systems (GIS) software to create a heat map of trauma incidence. This heat map and corresponding data set were used to identify extreme outlying areas of trauma incidence and determine which mechanisms of injury were most prevalent in Scott County. This research project enabled stakeholders to assess the impact of trauma on the Scott County community, identify environmental factors contributing to trauma incidence, and position resources appropriately to respond to traumatic injuries. Furthermore, this project demonstrated the efficacy of GIS to accurately assess, map and analyze complex healthcare and public health issues.