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Project Title: Utilizing Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis to assess area-level effects on the lived experience of chronic disease among children: A PEPR Consortium Study
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Project Period: October 2017 – September 2019
Investigators:
Marissa Hauptman, MD, MPH, FAAP, Co-Investigator, Boston Children’s Hospital
Jeffrey Blossom, MA, Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis, Boston MA
Julie Panepinto, MD, PI Wisconsin PEPR Center of Excellence
Wanda Phipatanakul, MD, MS, Boston Site PI, Northwestern PEPR Center of Excellence
GIS technology allows person-specific and location-specific data from different sources to be joined and mapped to display important geographic relationships. This project will utilize GIS technology to address exposures in the following domains: a) social determinants of health; b) environmental determinants of health for example proximity to hazards and exposure assessments; and c) community-level protective factors. This study will facilitate standardized spatial exposure assessment across the PEPR Center of Excellence cohorts. We will compile publicly-available data, (e.g. crime statistics, traffic density, socioeconomic deprivation, etc), to examine spatial correlations between these exposures and patient reported outcomes in children with chronic disease.
We plan to address the following objectives:
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1) To leverage the PEPR consortium infrastructure by collecting geographic information system
(GIS) data from participant addresses.
2) To develop a GIS task force to identify and develop a GIS data repository of pertinent
spatially derived measures for participants in the PEPR Consortium in order to address the
following:
a. To assess whether spatially derived measures can predict PROMIS measures (e.g. physical activity, pain, etc.) in children with chronic disease.
b. To assess whether spatially derived measures can predict child patient reported outcomes (cPROs) in children with chronic disease.
GIS technology leverages data that are being collected for successful implementation of the PEPR Consortium Studies. We propose to utilize data analytical tools to leverage the data that causes minimum to no additional burden on participants and study staff. Resources are needed from data management and analytical tools to maximize these concepts.
