%0 Journal Article
%T Relevance of the type III error in epidemiological maps
%A Heinzl Harald
%A Waldhoer Thomas
%J International Journal of Health Geographics
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1476-072x-11-34
%X Background A type III error arises from a two-sided test, when one side is erroneously favoured although the true effect actually resides on the other side. The relevance of this grave error in decision-making is studied for epidemiological maps. Results Theoretical considerations confirm that a type III error may be large for regions with small numbers of expected cases even when no spatial smoothing has been performed. A simulation study based on infant mortality data in Austria reveals that spatial smoothing may additionally increase the risk of type III errors. Conclusions The occurrence of a type III error should be taken into account when interpreting results presented in epidemiological maps, particularly with regard to sparsely populated regions and spatial smoothing.
%K Directional test decision
%K Statistical power
%K Infant mortality
%K Standardised mortality ratio (SMR)
%K Crude SMR estimator
%K Unstructured random effect
%K Structured random effect
%K BYM model
%U http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/11/1/34