Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37711359›Full record

ArticleSSM - population health2023

Validation of a geospatial aggregation method for congressional districts and other US administrative geographies.

Ben R Spoer, Alexander S Chen, Taylor M Lampe, Isabel S Nelson, Anne Vierse, Noah V Zazanis, Byoungjun Kim, Lorna E Thorpe, Subu V Subramanian, Marc N Gourevitch

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in SSM - population health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Measuring the Health of Philadelphia's City Council Districts.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Ben R SpoerNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Alexander S ChenNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Taylor M LampeNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Isabel S NelsonNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Anne VierseNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Noah V ZazanisNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Byoungjun KimNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Lorna E ThorpeNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA.
Subu V SubramanianHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston, MA, USA.
Marc N GourevitchNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, New York, NY, USA.

Funding

AHRQ HHS T32 HS026120
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Stakeholders need data on health and drivers of health parsed to the boundaries of essential policy-relevant geographies. US Congressional Districts are an example of a policy-relevant geography which generally lack health data. One strategy to generate Congressional District heath data metric estimates is to aggregate estimates from other geographies, for example, from counties or census tracts to Congressional Districts. Doing so requires several methodological decisions. We refine a method to aggregate health metric estimates from one geography to another, using a population weighted approach. The method's accuracy is evaluated by comparing three aggregated metric estimates to metric estimates from the US Census American Community Survey for the same years: Broadband Access, High School Completion, and Unemployment. We then conducted four sensitivity analyses testing: the effect of aggregating counts vs. percentages; impacts of component geography size and data missingness; and extent of population overlap between component and target geographies. Aggregated estimates were very similar to estimates for identical metrics drawn directly from the data source. Sensitivity analyses suggest the following best practices for Congressional district-based metrics: utilizing smaller, more plentiful geographies like census tracts as opposed to larger, less plentiful geographies like counties, despite potential for less stable estimates in smaller geographies; favoring geographies with higher percentage population overlap.

Indexed as

Congressional districtsGeospatial analysisSpatial data aggregationUS administrative geographies

Identifiers

PMID37711359
PMCPMC10498302

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.