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Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures

Environmental factors or socioeconomic status variables used in regression models to explain environmental chemical exposures or health outcomes are often in practice modeled at the same buffer distance or spatial scale. In this paper, we present four model selection algorithms that select the best...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Grant, Lauren P., Gennings, Chris, Wheeler, David C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Libertas Academica 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413908/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25983543
http://dx.doi.org/10.4137/CIN.S17302
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author Grant, Lauren P.
Gennings, Chris
Wheeler, David C.
author_facet Grant, Lauren P.
Gennings, Chris
Wheeler, David C.
author_sort Grant, Lauren P.
collection PubMed
description Environmental factors or socioeconomic status variables used in regression models to explain environmental chemical exposures or health outcomes are often in practice modeled at the same buffer distance or spatial scale. In this paper, we present four model selection algorithms that select the best spatial scale for each buffer-based or area-level covariate. Contamination of drinking water by nitrate is a growing problem in agricultural areas of the United States, as ingested nitrate can lead to the endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds, which are potent carcinogens. We applied our methods to model nitrate levels in private wells in Iowa. We found that environmental variables were selected at different spatial scales and that a model allowing spatial scale to vary across covariates provided the best goodness of fit. Our methods can be applied to investigate the association between environmental risk factors available at multiple spatial scales or buffer distances and measures of disease, including cancers.
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spelling pubmed-44139082015-05-15 Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures Grant, Lauren P. Gennings, Chris Wheeler, David C. Cancer Inform Methodology Environmental factors or socioeconomic status variables used in regression models to explain environmental chemical exposures or health outcomes are often in practice modeled at the same buffer distance or spatial scale. In this paper, we present four model selection algorithms that select the best spatial scale for each buffer-based or area-level covariate. Contamination of drinking water by nitrate is a growing problem in agricultural areas of the United States, as ingested nitrate can lead to the endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds, which are potent carcinogens. We applied our methods to model nitrate levels in private wells in Iowa. We found that environmental variables were selected at different spatial scales and that a model allowing spatial scale to vary across covariates provided the best goodness of fit. Our methods can be applied to investigate the association between environmental risk factors available at multiple spatial scales or buffer distances and measures of disease, including cancers. Libertas Academica 2015-04-27 /pmc/articles/PMC4413908/ /pubmed/25983543 http://dx.doi.org/10.4137/CIN.S17302 Text en © 2015 the authors, publisher and licensee Libertas Academica Limited This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC 3.0 License.
spellingShingle Methodology
Grant, Lauren P.
Gennings, Chris
Wheeler, David C.
Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures
title Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures
title_full Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures
title_fullStr Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures
title_full_unstemmed Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures
title_short Selecting Spatial Scale of Covariates in Regression Models of Environmental Exposures
title_sort selecting spatial scale of covariates in regression models of environmental exposures
topic Methodology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413908/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25983543
http://dx.doi.org/10.4137/CIN.S17302
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