J Prev Med Public Health.  2021 Sep;54(5):301-308. 10.3961/jpmph.21.160.

A Systematic Review of Spatial and Spatio-temporal Analyses in Public Health Research in Korea

• Byun HG
• Lee N
• Hwang Ss

• KMID: 2520530
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.21.160

Abstract

Objectives
Despite its advantages, it is not yet common practice in Korea for researchers to investigate disease associations using spatio-temporal analyses. In this study, we aimed to review health-related epidemiological research using spatio-temporal analyses and to observe methodological trends.
Methods
Health-related studies that applied spatial or spatio-temporal methods were identified using 2 international databases (PubMed and Embase) and 4 Korean academic databases (KoreaMed, NDSL, DBpia, and RISS). Two reviewers extracted data to review the included studies. A search for relevant keywords yielded 5919 studies.
Results
Of the studies that were initially found, 150 were ultimately included based on the eligibility criteria. In terms of the research topic, 5 categories with 11 subcategories were identified: chronic diseases (n=31, 20.7%), infectious diseases (n=27, 18.0%), health-related topics (including service utilization, equity, and behavior) (n=47, 31.3%), mental health (n=15, 10.0%), and cancer (n=7, 4.7%). Compared to the period between 2000 and 2010, more studies published between 2011 and 2020 were found to use 2 or more spatial analysis techniques (35.6% of included studies), and the number of studies on mapping increased 6-fold.
Conclusions
Further spatio-temporal analysis-related studies with point data are needed to provide insights and evidence to support policy decision-making for the prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases using advances in spatial techniques.

Keyword

Spatio-temporal analysis; Spatial analysis; Public health; Systematic review; Geographic information systems