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by Peter Hambly
The RIF automatically generates contextual maps showing the area under study. A report is generated summarising the study details, and reporting the crude and adjusted rates and risks for each health outcome investigated. Graphs comparing the age, gender and socio-economic (or other covariate) structure of the study, and comparison populations, are provided to aid interpretation.
As well calculating the rates and relative risks (and associated 95% confidence intervals) for each exposure group or distance band, the RIF also runs Chi-square tests for homogeneity and linear trends to test the global association between distance/exposure covariate and disease risk. In disease mapping analyses, maps showing crude, adjusted and smoothed risks by area are also displayed. Demonstrations of the current RIF are available. These are large Windows Media Video (.wmv) files, and must first be unzipped (use WinZip on Windows), and then they can be viewed using Windows Media Player.