Clarke K C, McLafferty S L, Tempalski B J
Hunter College-CUNY, New York, New York 10021, USA.
Emerg Infect Dis. 1996 Apr-Jun;2(2):85-92. doi: 10.3201/eid0202.960202.
Geographic information systems are powerful automated systems for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data. While the systems have been in development for more than 20 years, recent software has made them substantially easier to use for those outside the field. The systems offer new and expanding opportunities for epidemiology because they allow an informed user to choose between options when geographic distributions are part of the problem. Even when used minimally, these systems allow a spatial perspective on disease. Used to their optimum level, as tools for analysis and decision making, they are indeed a new information management vehicle with a rich potential for public health and epidemiology.
地理信息系统是用于采集、存储、检索、分析和显示空间数据的强大自动化系统。尽管这些系统已经开发了20多年，但最近的软件已使它们对于该领域之外的人来说使用起来更加容易。这些系统为流行病学提供了新的且不断扩展的机会，因为当地理分布成为问题的一部分时，它们允许有见识的用户在多种选项之间进行选择。即使是最低限度地使用，这些系统也能提供对疾病的空间视角。作为分析和决策工具，如果将它们发挥到最佳水平，它们确实是一种新的信息管理手段，对公共卫生和流行病学具有巨大潜力。
