Review of software for space-time disease surveillance
Date
2010-03-12
Authors
Robertson, Colin
Nelson, Trisalyn A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Abstract
Disease surveillance makes use of information technology at almost every stage of the process, from data collection
and collation, through to analysis and dissemination. Automated data collection systems enable near-real time
analysis of incoming data. This context places a heavy burden on software used for space-time surveillance. In this
paper, we review software programs capable of space-time disease surveillance analysis, and outline some of their
salient features, shortcomings, and usability. Programs with space-time methods were selected for inclusion, limiting
our review to ClusterSeer, SaTScan, GeoSurveillance and the Surveillance package for R. We structure the review
around stages of analysis: preprocessing, analysis, technical issues, and output. Simulated data were used to review
each of the software packages. SaTScan was found to be the best equipped package for use in an automated surveillance
system. ClusterSeer is more suited to data exploration, and learning about the different methods of statistical
surveillance.
Description
BioMed Central
Keywords
Citation
Robertson and Nelson: Review of software for space-time disease surveillance. International Journal of Health Geographics 2010 9:16.