LINKING PUBLIC-HEALTH DATA USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION-SYSTEM TECHNIQUES - ALASKAN COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS AND INFANT-MORTALITY

This article identifies geographical contexts important in differentia ting infant mortality in Alaska and uses spatial processing models to link and analyse multi-source data. Information characterizing geograp hical locations are collected from Alaska's vital statistics for the y ears 1982-91 and the 1990 Census. Geographic information system (GIS) techniques are applied to identify spatially homogeneous regions, asse ss spatial compatibility across databases, and allocate geographical u nits across boundaries. A primary goal of this paper is to encourage s patial linkage and analysis techniques for vital statistics and census data. By demonstrating the interplay of tabular, graphical, and mappi ng techniques on Alaskan infant mortality, this analysis describes pro cedures for conducting epidemiological research with data spatially de fined at distinct geographical levels.