Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia

Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been used widely in many developed countries to map health-related events, and the results are used for planning of health services (such as locating screening centres) and in assessing clusters of cases to help identify possible aetiological factors. In t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: PSM
Other Authors: Narimah Samat
Format: Journal
Published: Kajian Malaysia (Journal of Malaysian Studies), Universiti Sains Malaysia 2010
Subjects:
History
Online Access:http://www.myjurnal.my/public/article-view.php?id=15536
id oai:www.myjurnal.my:15536
recordtype eprints
spelling oai:www.myjurnal.my:155362018-09-20T00:00:00Z Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia PSM History Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been used widely in many developed countries to map health-related events, and the results are used for planning of health services (such as locating screening centres) and in assessing clusters of cases to help identify possible aetiological factors. In the United States in particular, cancer cases notified to registries are routinely entered into GIS, and trends are monitored over time. The Penang Cancer Registry (PCR) is a population-based registry that collects and collates data of all cancer cases diagnosed in Penang as well as cancer cases diagnosed elsewhere of Penang residents. Cancer case reports are generated by providing counts of cases based on Penang home addresses. Mapping of cases using information from the PCR gives a fairly complete picture of cancer cases from the Penang state, and any clusters of cases can be readily identified. This study demonstrates the application of GIS in the mapping and evaluation of the accessibility to health facilities of breast cancer cases in the Penang state. The ArcGIS 9.3 software was used to map and evaluate the spatial clustering of cancer cases, and the Network Analysis function was used to determine the distance between breast cancer cases and health facilities. Although the Penang state is considered one of the more developed states in Malaysia with good health facilities, in some parts of the state, health facilities are quite inaccessible. The study results suggest that new health facilities with screening and treatment services should be built in the south of the Seberang Perai and Balik Pulau areas. In addition, this study provides the opportunity to include geographical factors in examining cancer data, which gives a fresh outlook on the issue. Kajian Malaysia (Journal of Malaysian Studies), Universiti Sains Malaysia Narimah Samat 2010-00-00 Journal application/pdf 15536 www.myjurnal.my/filebank/published_article/10050KM ART 5 (103-122).pdf www.myjurnal.my/public/article-view.php?id=15536
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local Institution
institution MyJournal
building MyJournal Repository
collection Online Access
topic History
spellingShingle History
PSM
Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia
description Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been used widely in many developed countries to map health-related events, and the results are used for planning of health services (such as locating screening centres) and in assessing clusters of cases to help identify possible aetiological factors. In the United States in particular, cancer cases notified to registries are routinely entered into GIS, and trends are monitored over time. The Penang Cancer Registry (PCR) is a population-based registry that collects and collates data of all cancer cases diagnosed in Penang as well as cancer cases diagnosed elsewhere of Penang residents. Cancer case reports are generated by providing counts of cases based on Penang home addresses. Mapping of cases using information from the PCR gives a fairly complete picture of cancer cases from the Penang state, and any clusters of cases can be readily identified. This study demonstrates the application of GIS in the mapping and evaluation of the accessibility to health facilities of breast cancer cases in the Penang state. The ArcGIS 9.3 software was used to map and evaluate the spatial clustering of cancer cases, and the Network Analysis function was used to determine the distance between breast cancer cases and health facilities. Although the Penang state is considered one of the more developed states in Malaysia with good health facilities, in some parts of the state, health facilities are quite inaccessible. The study results suggest that new health facilities with screening and treatment services should be built in the south of the Seberang Perai and Balik Pulau areas. In addition, this study provides the opportunity to include geographical factors in examining cancer data, which gives a fresh outlook on the issue.
author2 Narimah Samat
author_facet Narimah Samat
PSM
format Journal
author PSM
author_sort PSM
title Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia
title_short Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia
title_full Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia
title_fullStr Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in Penang State, Malaysia
title_sort using a geographic information system (gis) in evaluating the accessibility of health facilities for breast cancer patients in penang state, malaysia
publisher Kajian Malaysia (Journal of Malaysian Studies), Universiti Sains Malaysia
publishDate 2010
url http://www.myjurnal.my/public/article-view.php?id=15536
first_indexed 2018-09-20T08:20:21Z
last_indexed 2018-09-20T08:20:21Z
_version_ 1612222154923835392

Similar Items