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.
Summary
Korean summary
본 연구는 국내 시공간 분석을 활용한 역학연구를 체계적 문헌고찰을 통해 검토하였다. 의료이용, 형평성, 건강행동 관련 주제가 가장 많았고, 두 가지 이상의 공간분석 기법을 적용한 사례가 늘었으며, 단순 지도화를 적용한 연구가 가장 많았다.
향후 시공간 분석 결과를 이용해 질병 예방과 관리 정책에 적극적으로 활용할 필요가 있다.
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