Spatial Patterns in the Rate of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in Galicia (Spain)

In the last twenty years there have been many studies that have considered geographic area as a health determinant. The analysis of the impact of these geographical effects is of importance to capture possible spatial heterogeneities. The present ecological study was aimed at investigating spatial trends in the rate of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS rate) in a defined community. To take into account other potential confounding factors, we used Structured Additive Regression (STAR) models with Poisson response, which allows flexible modeling of spatial and non-linear effects. The analysis showed different results of various socio-demographic effects on the response when including the spatial trends in the model.