Service learning within the University of Connecticut Master of Public Health Program.

Since 2005, the University of Connecticut Master of Public Health Program has administered its required service-learning practicum through coordinated activities of second-year students assigned to examine a pressing public health issue in Connecticut. The initiative underscores our program's commitment to preparing students for careers as leaders in applied practice and our emphasis on collaboration. Our thematic approach links content across the core curriculum, provides a venue where students demonstrate mastery of academic principles, and affirms values of public responsibility and common purpose.

Spatial analysis of colorectal cancer incidence and proportion of late-stage in Massachusetts residents: 1995-1998.

Background: The aims of this study were to determine if observed geographic variations in colorectal cancer incidence are simply random or are statistically significant deviations from randomness, whether statistically significant excesses are temporary or persistent, and whether they can be explained by risk factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) or the percent of the population residing in an urban area rather than a rural area. Between 1995 and 1998, 6360 male and 6628 female invasive colorectal cancer cases were diagnosed in Massachusetts residents. Cases were aggregated to Census tracts and analyzed for deviations from random occurrence with respect to both location and time.

Place of residence effect on likelihood of surviving prostate cancer.

Purpose: To examine geographic variation in survival time of men diagnosed with prostate cancer, adjusted for patient and disease characteristics.

Method: Survival times for a geographically referenced database of 27,189 incident prostate cancer cases (ICD-O-2: C61.9) from Connecticut, 1984-1998, were evaluated using a newly developed extension of the spatial scan statistic for survival data.

Race-specific geography of prostate cancer incidence.

Background: This study evaluated geographic distribution of race-specific prostate cancer incidence in Connecticut and Massachusetts. This cross-sectional analysis of census and cancer registry data included records of 29,040 Whites and 1,647 African Americans diagnosed with incident prostate cancer between 1994 and 1998. A spatial scan statistic was used to detect and test significance of the geographic variation in race-specific incidence rates within the two-state area.

The geographic distribution of melanoma incidence in Massachusetts, adjusted for covariates.

Background: The aims of this study were to determine whether observed geographic variations in melanoma cancer incidence in both gender groups are simply random or are statistically significant, whether statistically significant excesses are temporary or persistent, and whether they can be explained by risk factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) or the percent of the population residing in an urban rather than a rural area. Between 1990 and 1999, 4774 female and 5688 male melanomas were diagnosed in Massachusetts residents. Cases were aggregated to census tracts and analyzed for deviations from random occurrence with respect to both spatial location and time.

A space-time analysis of the proportion of late stage breast cancer in Massachusetts, 1988 to 1997.

Background: Early detection is the best way to control breast cancer. This observational epidemiologic study uses ten years of data, 1988-1997, to determine whether the observed variations in the proportion of breast cancers diagnosed at late stage are simply random or are statistically significant with respect to both geographical location and time.

Results: A total of three spatial-temporal areas were found to deviate significantly from randomness in the unadjusted analysis; one of the three areas contained statistically significant excesses in proportion of late stage, while two areas were identified as significantly lower than expected.

Lumping or splitting: seeking the preferred areal unit for health geography studies.

BACKGROUND: Findings are compared on geographic variation of incident and late-stage cancers across Connecticut using different areal units for analysis. RESULTS: Few differences in results were found for analyses across areal units. Global clustering of incident prostate and breast cancer cases was apparent regardless of the level of geography used.

The geographic distribution of breast cancer incidence in Massachusetts 1988 to 1997, adjusted for covariates.

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to determine whether observed geographic variations in breast cancer incidence are random or statistically significant, whether statistically significant excesses are temporary or time-persistent, and whether they can be explained by covariates such as socioeconomic status (SES) or urban/rural status? RESULTS: A purely spatial analysis found fourteen geographic areas that deviated significantly from randomness: ten with higher incidence rates than expected, four lower than expected. After covariate adjustment, three of the ten high areas remained statistically significant and one new high area emerged. The space-time analysis identified eleven geographic areas as statistically significant, seven high and four low.