Using R for Bayesian Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Health Modeling

<p>Progressively more and more attention has been paid to how location affects health outcomes. The area of <i>disease mapping</i> focusses on these problems and the Bayesian paradigm has a major role to play in the understanding of the complex interplay of context and individual predisposition in such studies of disease. <b><i>Using R for Bayesian Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Health Modeling</i></b> provides a major resource for those interested in applying Bayesian methodology in small area health data studies.</p><p><b>Features:</b></p><ul> <li>Review of R graphics relevant to spatial health data</li> </ul><ul> <li>Overview of Bayesian methods and Bayesian hierarchical modeling as applied to spatial data</li> </ul><ul> <li>Bayesian Computation and goodness-of-fit</li> </ul><ul> <li>Review of basic Bayesian disease mapping models</li> </ul><ul> <li>Spatio-temporal modeling with MCMC and INLA</li> </ul><ul> <li>Special topics include multivariate models survival analysis missing data measurement error variable selection individual event modeling and infectious disease modeling</li> </ul><ul> <li>Software for fitting models based on BRugs Nimble CARBayes and INLA</li> </ul><ul> <li>Provides code relevant to fitting all examples throughout the book at a supplementary <a href=https://people.musc.edu/~abl6/data/SpatialModelingCode.zip%20http://people.musc.edu/~abl6/data/SpatialModelingCode.zip>website</a> </li> </ul><p>The book fills a void in the literature and available software providing a crucial link for students and professionals alike to engage in the analysis of spatial and spatio-temporal health data from a Bayesian perspective using R. The book emphasizes the use of MCMC via Nimble BRugs and CARBAyes but also includes INLA for comparative purposes. In addition a wide range of packages useful in the analysis of geo-referenced spatial data are employed and code is provided. It will likely become a key reference for researchers and students from biostatistics epidemiology public health and environmental science.</p>