A distributed geospatial approach to describe community characteristics for multisite studies. Issue 1 (5th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ryan, Patrick H.; Brokamp, Cole; Blossom, Jeff; Lothrop, Nathan; Miller, Rachel L.; Beamer, Paloma I.; Visness, Cynthia M.; Zanobetti, Antonella; Andrews, Howard; Bacharier, Leonard B.; Hartert, Tina; Johnson, Christine C.; Ownby, Dennis; Lemanske, Robert F.; Gibson, Heike; Requia, Weeberb; Coull, Brent; Zoratti, Edward M.; Wright, Anne L.; Martinez, Fernando D.; Seroogy, Christine M.; Gern, James E.; Gold, Diane R.
• Is Part Of: Journal of clinical and translational science. Volume 5:Issue 1(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-02-05
• Subjects: Geospatial analysis, -- GIS, -- participant confidentiality, -- determinants of health, -- multisite studies; Clinical medicine -- Research -- Periodicals; Medicine, Experimental -- Periodicals; Human experimentation in medicine -- Periodicals; 616.027
• DOI: 10.1017/cts.2021.7
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2059-8661

Abstract

Abstract: Understanding place-based contributors to health requires geographically and culturally diverse study populations, but sharing location data is a significant challenge to multisite studies. Here, we describe a standardized and reproducible method to perform geospatial analyses for multisite studies. Using census tract-level information, we created software for geocoding and geospatial data linkage that was distributed to a consortium of birth cohorts located throughout the USA. Individual sites performed geospatial linkages and returned tract-level information for 8810 children to a central site for analyses. Our generalizable approach demonstrates the feasibility of geospatial analyses across study sites to promote collaborative translational research.