Optimizing the maximum reported cluster size for normal-based spatial scan statistics

Abstract

The spatial scan statistic is a widely used method to detect spatial clusters. The method imposes a large number of scanning windows with pre-defined shapes and varying sizes on the entire study region. The likelihood ratio test statistic comparing inside versus outside each window is then calculated and the window with the maximum value of test statistic becomes the most likely cluster. The results of cluster detection respond sensitively to the shape and the maximum size of scanning windows. The shape of scanning window has been extensively studied; however, there has been relatively little attention on the maximum scanning window size (MSWS) or maximum reported cluster size (MRCS). The Gini coefficient has recently been proposed by Han et al. (International Journal of Health Geographics, 15, 27, 2016) as a powerful tool to determine the optimal value of MRCS for the Poisson-based spatial scan statistic. In this paper, we apply the Gini coefficient to normal-based spatial scan statistics. Through a simulation study, we evaluate the performance of the proposed method. We illustrate the method using a real data example of female colorectal cancer incidence rates in South Korea for the year 2009.