Parrott Roxanne, Hopfer Suellen, Ghetian Christie, Lengerich Eugene
Department of Communication Arts & Science, The Pennsylvania State University, PA 16802, USA.
Health Commun. 2007;22(1):13-24. doi: 10.1080/10410230701310265.
In the era of evidence-based public health promotion and planning, the use of maps as a form of evidence to communicate about the multiple determinants of cancer is on the rise. Geographic information systems and mapping technologies make future proliferation of this strategy likely. Yet disease maps as a communication form remain largely unexamined. This content analysis considers the presence of multivariate information, credibility cues, and the communication function of publicly accessible maps for cancer control activities. Thirty-six state comprehensive cancer control plans were publicly available in July 2005 and were reviewed for the presence of maps. Fourteen of the 36 state cancer plans (39%) contained map images (N = 59 static maps). A continuum of map inter activity was observed, with 10 states having interactive mapping tools available to query and map cancer information. Four states had both cancer plans with map images and interactive mapping tools available to the public on their Web sites. Of the 14 state cancer plans that depicted map images, two displayed multivariate data in a single map. Nine of the 10 states with interactive mapping capability offered the option to display multivariate health risk messages. The most frequent content category mapped was cancer incidence and mortality, with stage at diagnosis infrequently available. The most frequent communication function served by the maps reviewed was redundancy, as maps repeated information contained in textual forms. The social and ethical implications for communicating about cancer through the use of visual geographic representations are discussed.
在循证公共卫生促进与规划的时代，将地图作为一种证据形式用于传达癌症的多种决定因素的做法正在增多。地理信息系统和制图技术使得这种策略在未来可能会更加普及。然而，作为一种交流形式的疾病地图在很大程度上仍未得到审视。本内容分析考虑了多元信息的呈现、可信度线索以及可公开获取的癌症控制活动地图的交流功能。2005年7月有36个州的综合癌症控制计划可供公开查阅，并对其中是否有地图进行了审查。36个州癌症计划中有14个（39%）包含地图图像（共59张静态地图）。观察到地图互动程度呈连续变化，有10个州具备交互式制图工具可用于查询和绘制癌症信息。有4个州的癌症计划既有地图图像，其网站上也有可供公众使用的交互式制图工具。在14个呈现地图图像的州癌症计划中，有两个在单张地图中展示了多元数据。在具备交互式制图功能的10个州中，有9个提供了显示多元健康风险信息的选项。绘制的最常见内容类别是癌症发病率和死亡率，很少有诊断阶段的信息。所审查地图发挥的最常见交流功能是冗余，因为地图重复了文本形式中包含的信息。本文还讨论了通过视觉地理表示来交流癌症信息所涉及的社会和伦理问题。
