Using geographical information systems mapping to identify areas presenting high risk for traumatic brain injury

Data on TBI hospitalizations, and geographic and demographic variables, came from the Ontario Trauma Registry Minimum Data Set for the fiscal years 1993-1994 and 2001-2002. Various visualization techniques, exploratory data analysis and spatial analysis were employed to map and analyze these data. Both the raw and standardized rates by age/gender of the geographical unit were studied. Data analyses revealed persistent high rates of hospitalization for TBI resulting from any injury mechanism between two time periods in specific geographic locations.This study shows how geographic information systems can be successfully used to investigate hospitalizaton rates for traumatic brain injury using a range of tools and techniques; findings can be used for local planning of both injury prevention and post discharge services, including rehabilitation.Geographic information systems (GIS) describe a group of software tools and methods that are used to integrate and evaluate data from a variety of sources with geographic location as the underlying framework for integration [1,2]. These data may be mapped for visualization purposes, and their locational relationships may also be analyzed using tools from the field of spatial statistics. GIS has been used by epidemiologists to investigate associations between environmental exposures to, and the spatial distribution of, infectious disease [3-6]. GIS research in health and healthcare has primarily relied on government supported databases [7-10] of vital statistics to visualize mortality and morbidity.While most large-scale studies have focused on disease, a substantial amount of GIS and health-related research has also investigated incidence and mortality related to injury [11,12]. In particular, research has focused on injury resulting in pedestrian mortality among adults [13-15] and children [16,17]. These studies have primarily been conducted to identify at-risk intersections or neighbourhoods within an urban centre, or to compar