Effect of spatial resolution on cluster detection: a simulation study

BackgroundAggregation of spatial data is intended to protect privacy, but some effects of aggregation on spatial methods have not yet been quantified.MethodsWe generated 3,000 spatial data sets and evaluated power of detection at 12 different levels of aggregation using the spatial scan statistic implemented in SaTScan v6.0.ResultsPower to detect clusters decreased from nearly 100% when using exact locations to roughly 40% at the coarsest level of spatial resolution.ConclusionAggregation has the potential for obfuscation