health informatics 4
winniekay90
simplymap_for_public_health.pdf
1
SimplyMap for Public Health
Cecilia Smith, Geospatial Librarian
Maps & GIS, Evans 202
This tutorial will introduce you to SimplyMap, an extensive database which includes health information.
SimplyMap data is tied to geography, allowing you to map variables and do spatial analysis.
By the conclusion of this tutorial, you will be able to:
Navigate SimplyMap
Identify health and demographic patterns via spatial analysis
Create maps for presentations and reports
SimplyMap Account Setup
1. Navigate to the University Libraries’ website: http://www.library.tamu.edu/.
2. Click the Databases button.
3. Enter SimplyMap into the search bar and click Search.
4. Click on the SimplyMap result.
5. At the login page, select Create an account and set up your login information.
6. Log into you SimplyMap account.
Navigation
7. In the left column click Variables and select Search.
8. In the search bar enter Flu and click Search.
2
9. Look down the list of flu-related variables, and select % MEDICINE/DRUGS/AILMENTS | AILMENTS | AILMENTS: SUFFERED LAST 12 MOS-SEVERE | FLU, 2014. This adds the variable to your map. Note that you can only add one variable at a time.
10. Hover over the variable again, and select the Action button that appears. Make sure you have 2014, the most recent year available, selected.
11. Also under the Action menu, select View Metadata. Metadata is information about a variable, such as where the data came from and how it was created. Close the Variable Metadata window.
12. Your selected variable should be highlighted in a dark gray. Close the Variable selection window by clicking the X in the top right. Your map viewer is now populated with the percentage of survey respondents who reported having a severe flu case in 2014 by county.
13. Click Locations in the left panel.
14. Select Cities in the location dropdown menu.
15. Select Texas in the state dropdown and Houston in the city dropdown. Click Use This Location and close the window.
16. In the upper right, select Display Options and toggle on Apply Location Mask. Toggle off Highlight Location.
17. In the Legend click the dropdown menu under View data by: and note the levels of data resolution.
18. Also in the Legend, click on Edit Legend. Change the Classification Method to Quantiles (Local) and the Color Scheme to blue. Click Done.
19. Navigation options, such as zooming out to the entire United States, the zoom in tool, and the pan tool are available in a floating toolbar placed at the top of the map viewer. Click on the View
location information button, which looks like: . Click on a zip code containing data in your map viewer to see information about that location.
20. Click Businesses in the left panel and enter Hospitals into the search bar. Click Show businesses.
21. Notice if you zoom out, the map aggregates hospitals for a cleaner map. When you zoom in, the map places the hospitals in their actual location. Click on a hospital to see information about it.
Creating a Map
22. Click New Map near the top left.
23. Go to Variables and search for diabetes. Add the variable % MEDICINE/DRUGS/AILMENTS | AILMENTS | AILMENTS HAD IN LAST 12 MONTHS? | DIABETES TYPE 2, 2014 to your map.
3
24. Under Location add Austin, TX. Remove the location highlight and apply the location mask.
25. View the data at the census tract level and adjust colors and data classifications as desired.
26. Click Actions in the upper right corner and select Export Map Image.
27. Adjust the cropping to an appropriate size. (If you need to adjust the zoom, click Cancel and adjust the zoom in the map viewer.)
28. Once you are satisfied with cropping, paper size, and orientation, click Continue to Layout.
29. Click Add Text Label and enter Diabetes Type II (%) by Census Tract in Austin, TX. Click and drag the title to an appropriate location. Click on the title and let go to see formatting options.
30. Click on the Legend and drag to move the legend. Hover over a corner or side of the legend to resize. Clicking once on the Legend will allow you to adjust its location and size at the pixel level.
31. Toggle on Inset Map and North Arrow in the left panel. Each can be moved like the legend.
32. Click Continue to Export found in the bottom left. Select a format, such as JPEG or PDF; then select Download and Finished. Depending on your browser defaults, the map will either be saved directly to a specified folder, or you will be prompted for a location to save your map.
Applying a Filter Filters are used to display data that satisfy particular requirements.
33. First, we will identify census tracts in Dallas, TX in which 10% or more of the population reported having Type II Diabetes in 2014. You should still have up in the map viewer Type II Diabetes in Austin, TX.
34. Change the location to Dallas, TX. View the data at the Census Tract level.
35. Click Data Filters and select Create New Filter.
36. In the first dropdown, select the % MEDICINE/DRUGS/AILMENTS | AILMENTS | AILMENTS HAD IN LAST 12 MONTHS? | DIABETES TYPE 2, 2014 variable.
37. Make sure that the next dropdown reads is greater than.
38. Write the number 10 in the final box. Note that you can also use the slider in the histogram on the right.
39. Name the filter >10% Type II Diabetes and click Save. Now all census tracts that reported less than 10% Type II Diabetes do not appear on the map.
40. Export a map of this filter, adding an appropriate title.
4
41. Next we will also filter out census tracts in which more than 10% of respondents report being 30 pounds or more overweight.
42. Click on the Active Filter and select Remove.
43. First, we need to populate our “Recent” variable category with all the variables of interest. We will use Diabetes Type II and Weight as variables in our filter. We recently used Diabetes Type II as a variable, so the application will keep it stored in our “Recent” variable category. So next, change the displayed variable to % MEDICINE/DRUGS/AILMENTS | AILMENTS | AILMENTS HAD IN LAST 12 MONTHS? | OVERWEIGHT (30 LBS OR MORE), 2014.
44. The overweight variable is now stored in our “Recent” variable category. We will use this data to filter the diabetes data, but we wish to see the diabetes data as the base variable of our map. Remember, we can only see one variable mapped at a time.
45. Below Variables in the left panel, select Recent. Then select % MEDICINE/DRUGS/AILMENTS | AILMENTS | AILMENTS HAD IN LAST 12 MONTHS? | DIABETES TYPE 2, 2014 to add it to your map.
46. Click Data Filters and select Create New Filter.
47. Enter the variables as we had previously, so the statement reads: % MEDICINE/DRUGS/AILMENTS | AILMENTS | AILMENTS HAD IN LAST 12 MONTHS? | DIABETES TYPE 2, 2014 is greater than 10%.
48. Select Click here to add another condition.
49. Create a statement that reads % MEDICINE/DRUGS/AILMENTS | AILMENTS | AILMENTS HAD IN LAST 12 MONTHS? | OVERWEIGHT (30 LBS OR MORE), 2014 is greater than 10%. This will result in a map of census tracts in which 10% or more of the residents reported Type II Diabetes and 10% or more reported being 30 pounds or more overweight. The legend colors will represent the first variable of diabetes.
50. Name the filter Diabetes and Overweight, and click Save.
51. Export a map, using an appropriate title and with similar symbols to last filter map.
52. Compare the two maps created from filtered data. Are they different?
Summary During this tutorial we:
Learned to navigate SimplyMap
Explored adding variables, locations, and businesses
Created maps for presentation and spatial analysis (exploring variables over geography)
Used the filter function to view subsets of data
5
Homework
Create at least two maps that allow a comparison of the prevalence of hypertension/high blood
pressure and median family income at the census tract level in Houston, TX.
Remember:
Select variables from the same year
Use descriptive map titles and insert useful map elements
Set your location to only show Houston data
Adjust the legend to use appropriate color schemes, classifications, and categories
You may use filters to emphasize subsets of your data
Include a data citation on your map. It should be smaller than the title, but still visible, such as
using 12 point font in the bottom corner of your map. Below is a potential format for your
citation along with an example:
Data Citation Format Data Citation: Computer database title. Edition. Place of production: Producer, Date of copyright or production.
Example Data Citation: SimmonsLOCAL. Fall 2013. Retrieved from SimplyMap.com on 02/29/2016. Experian Marketing Services, 2013.
