Geographic information science and the United States opioid overdose crisis: A scoping review of methods, scales, and application areas. (January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sauer, Jeffery; Stewart, Kathleen
• Is Part Of: Social science & medicine. Volume 317(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-01
• Subjects: Opioid crisis -- United State -- Scoping review -- Geographic information science (GIScience) -- Geographic information systems (GIS) -- Spatial analysis -- Bibliometrics; Social medicine -- Periodicals; Medical anthropology -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Médecine sociale -- Périodiques; Anthropologie médicale -- Périodiques; Santé publique -- Périodiques; Psychologie -- Périodiques; Médecine -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 362.105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115525
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0277-9536

Abstract

Abstract: Background: The Opioid Overdose Crisis (OOC) continues to generate morbidity and mortality in the United States, outpacing other prominent accident-related reasons. Multiple disciplines have applied geographic information science (GIScience) to understand geographical patterns in opioid-related health measures. However, there are limited reviews that assess how GIScience has been used. Objectives: This scoping review investigates how GIScience has been used to conduct research on the OOC. Specific sub-objectives involve identifying bibliometric trends, the location and scale of studies, the frequency of use of various GIScience methodologies, and what direction future research can take to address existing gaps. Methods: The review was pre-registered with the Open Science Framework ((https://osf.io/h3mfx/) and followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Scholarly research was gathered from the Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library. Inclusion criteria was defined as having a publication date between January 1999 and August 2021, using GIScience as a central part of the research, and investigating an opioid-related health measure. Results: 231 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were published from 2017 onward. While many (41.6%) of studies were conducted using nationwide data, the majority (58.4%) occurred at the sub-national level. California, New York, Ohio, and Appalachia were most frequently studied, while the Midwest, north Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and Hawaii lacked studies. The most common GIScience methodology used was descriptive mapping, and county-level data was the most common unit of analysis across methodologies. Conclusions: Future research of GIScience on the OOC can address gaps by developing use cases for machine learning, conducting analyses at the sub-county level, and applying GIScience to questions involving illicit fentanyl. Research using GIScience is expected to continue to increase, and multidisciplinary research efforts amongst GIScientists, epidemiologists, and other medical professionals can improve the rigor of research. Highlights: 231 studies used GIScience to address opioid-related questions since 1999. Descriptive mapping is the most common GIScience method used on opioid-related data. California, New York, Ohio, and Appalachian were the most frequently studied states. Future GIScience research should address ML/AI, high resolution data, and fentanyl.