Incorporating American Community Survey Uncertainty into Disease Mapping Models - Dr. Lance Waller

DCEG Events

April 23, 2019 | 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

NCI Shady Grove Rockville, MD

Biostatistics Branch Seminar Series

Speaker
Lance Waller, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health,
Emory University

Abstract
Small area health studies typically rely on census data to define expected numbers of cases and potential sociodemographic risk factors. In the United States, some demographic aspects (e.g., age, race, and sex) are available for census small areas (tracts, block groups, and blocks) from the U.S. Census Short Form, while some (e.g., economic variables, housing) were historically available for census small areas from the U.S. Census Long Form which was replaced by the American Community Survey (ACS) in 2010. The ACS provides a rolling sample of the U.S. population and provides small area estimates for specific time periods and with measures of error. The authors provide a brief review of the role of census demographics in small area health studies, define the available data, and illustrate the impact on small area health studies using data from the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census and small area health statistics from the state of Georgia, with particular attention on incorporating the reported ACS error into typical models of small area health effects.

**The mission of the Biostatistics Branch (BB) is to be an outstanding biostatistics unit that can contribute to the understanding of cancer etiology and to improve public health by the development and application of quantitative methods. The BB Investigators develop statistical methods and data resources to strengthen observational studies, intervention trials, and laboratory investigations of cancer.**