RT Journal Article
T1 Geographical distribution of COPD prevalence in Europe, estimated by an inverse distance weighting interpolation technique.
A1 Blanco, Ignacio
A1 Diego, Isidro
A1 Bueno, Patricia
A1 Fernández, Eloy
A1 Casas-Maldonado, Francisco
A1 Esquinas, Cristina
A1 Soriano, Joan B
A1 Miravitlles, Marc
K1 GIS
K1 Geographic Resources Analysis Support System
K1 epidemiology
K1 geographic information system
AB Existing data on COPD prevalence are limited or totally lacking in many regions of Europe. The geographic information system inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation technique has proved to be an effective tool in spatial distribution estimation of epidemiological variables, when real data are few and widely separated. Therefore, in order to represent cartographically the prevalence of COPD in Europe, an IDW interpolation mapping was performed. The point prevalence data provided by 62 studies from 19 countries (21 from 5 Northern European countries, 11 from 3 Western European countries, 14 from 5 Central European countries, and 16 from 6 Southern European countries) were identified using validated spirometric criteria. Despite the lack of data in many areas (including all regions of the eastern part of the continent), the IDW mapping predicted the COPD prevalence in the whole territory, even in extensive areas lacking real data. Although the quality of the data obtained from some studies may have some limitations related to different confounding factors, this methodology may be a suitable tool for obtaining epidemiological estimates that can enable us to better address this major public health problem.
YR 2017
FD 2017-12-21
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/11987
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/11987
LA en
DS RISalud
RD Apr 10, 2025