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Geographic Information Systems in Trauma Research

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Violence, Trauma, and Trauma Surgery

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Abstract

Geographic information system (GIS) refers to spatial analysis. It has been used in medicine and public health for more than 2000 years, but recent advances in mapping software have allowed for significant advances in the field. It is being used to study traumatic injuries to help identify high-risk areas and posit potential solutions to local injury clusters. Examples of its use in trauma research include pedestrian injuries and local traffic patterns; sociodemographic characteristics of regions with high incidence of certain kinds of injuries, such as burns; and trauma systems development. This chapter provides an overview of GIS in trauma research—with particular attention to its application to the study of mortality from gunshot wounds in Chicago—and also highlights trauma systems evolution; characteristics of the built environment and their interplay with sociodemographics; and research-informed solutions. Finally, the chapter explores ethical considerations in the use of GIS data for clinical and public health research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Marie Crandall

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  1. Marie Crandall
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Correspondence to Marie Crandall .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Mark Siegler

  2. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Selwyn O. Rogers Jr.

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Crandall, M. (2020). Geographic Information Systems in Trauma Research. In: Siegler, M., Rogers Jr., S. (eds) Violence, Trauma, and Trauma Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31246-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31246-6_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31245-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31246-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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