This paper is the first of two linked progress reports on the application of ideas from complexity theory to health geography. In this paper we focus especially on research which seeks to explain variations in human health from a geographical perspective. We mainly discuss selected studies of geographies of human health which illustrate how ideas from complexity theory are applied empirically. In order to interpret more effectively the dynamic and recursive networks of relationships anticipated by complexity theory, future research will be required to go further in breaking down the divisions that are often assumed between research using different types of empirical methods. We comment on the potential to do this by means of advanced approaches to statistical and spatial modelling and by giving greater attention to the complementarity between these methods and qualitative techniques. We also discuss the emphasis in these examples on research which adopts an interdisciplinary strategy. Our conclusions refer forward to our companion report, which focuses more on studies of geographies of health care and health policy, emphasizing that complexity theory applied to health systems underlines the connections between health, health care and health policy.
Ali, S.H.2004: A socio-ecological autopsy of the E-coli O157:H7 outbreak in Walkerton, Ontario, Canada. Social Science and Medicine58, 2601-12.
2.
Andrews, G. and Kearns, R.2005: Everyday health histories and the making of place: the case of an English coastal town. Social Science and Medicine60, 2697-13.
3.
Andrews, G., Sudwell, M. and Sparkes, A.2005: Towards a geography of fitness: an ethnographic case study of the gym in British bodybuilding culture. Social Science and Medicine60, 877-91.
4.
Banerjee, A.2007: Temporal changes in the spatial pattern of disease rates incorporating known risk factors. Social Science and Medicine65, 7-19.
5.
Baranowski, T.2006: Crisis and chaos in behavioral nutrition and physical activity. International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity3, 27.
6.
Blackman, T.2006: Placing health. Neighbourhood renewal, health improvement and complexity. Bristol: The Policy Press.
7.
Boyle, P., Norman, P. and Rees, P.2002: Does migration exaggerate the relationship between deprivation and limiting long-term illness? A Scottish analysis. Social Science and Medicine55, 21-31.
8.
Brug, J.2006: Order is needed to promote linear or quantum changes in nutrition and physical activity behaviors: a reaction to ‘A chaotic view of behavior change’ by Resnicow and Vaughan. International Journal of Behvaioral Nutrition and Physical Activity3, 29.
9.
Byrne, D.1998: Complexity theory and the social sciences. An introduction . London: Routledge.
10.
Christensen, P. and Mikkelsen, M.2008: Jumping off and being careful: children’s strategies of risk management in everyday life. Sociology of Health and Illness30, 112-30.
11.
Christie, N., Ward, H., Kimberlee, R., Towner, E. and Sleney, J.2007: Understanding high traffic injury risks for children in low socioeconomic areas: a qualitative study of parents’ views. Injury Prevention13, 394-97.
12.
Cilliers, P.1998: Complexity and postmodernism: understanding complex systems . London: Routledge.
13.
Cloutier, M.S., Apparicio, P. and Thouez, J.P.2007: GIS-based spatial analysis of child pedestrian accidents near primary schools in Montréal, Canada. Applied GIS3(4).
14.
Cockings, S. and Martin, D.2005: Zone design for environment and health studies using pre-aggregated data. Social Science and Medicine60, 2729-42.
15.
Cosby, A.G., Neaves, T.T., Cossman, R.E., Cossman, J.S., James, W.L., Feierabend, N., Mirvis, D.M., Jones, C.A. and Farrigan, T.2008: Preliminary evidence for an emerging non-metropolitan mortality penalty in the United States. American Journal of Public Health98, 1470-72.
16.
Cossman, J.S., Cossman, R.E., James, W.L., Campbell, C.R., Blanchard, T.C. and Cosby, A.G.2007: Persistent clusters of mortality in the United States . American Journal of Public Health97, 2148-50.
17.
Cox, M., Boyle, P.J., Davey, P.G., Feng, Z. and Morris, A.D.2007a: Locality deprivation and Type 2 diabetes incidence: a local test of relative inequalities. Social Science and Medicine65, 1953-64.
18.
Cox, M., Boyle, P.J., Davey, P. and Morris, A.2007b: Does health-selective migration following diagnosis strengthen the relationship between Type 2 diabetes and deprivation? Social Science and Medicine65, 32-42.
19.
Cummins, S., Curtis, S., Diez-Roux, A.V. and Macintyre, S.2007: Understanding and representing ‘place’ in health research: a relational approach. Social Science and Medicine65, 1825-38.
20.
Curtis, S.2004: Health inequalities: geographical perspectives. London: Sage.
21.
Curtis, S. and Riva, M.2009: Health geographies II: complexity and health care systems and policy. Progress in Human Geography33, DOI: 10.1177/0309 132509336029, in press.
22.
Curtis, S., Southall, H., Congdon, P. and Dodgeon, B.2004: Area effects on health variation over the life-course: analysis of the longitudinal study sample in England using new data on area of residence in childhood. Social Science and Medicine58, 57-74.
23.
Diez-Roux, A.V.2008: Next steps in understanding the multilevel determinants of health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health62, 957-59.
24.
Dinno, A.2007: Loop analysis of causal feedback in epidemiology: an illustration relating to urban neighborhoods and resident depressive experiences. Social Science and Medicine65, 2043-57.
25.
Emch, M., Feldacker, C., Yunus, M., Streatfield, P.K., Thiem, V.D., Canh, D.G. and Ali, M.2008: Local environmental drivers of cholera in Bangladesh and Vietnam. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene78, 823-32.
26.
Flowerdew, R., Manley, D.J. and Sabel, C.E.2008: Neighbourhood effects on health: does it matter where you draw the boundaries? Social Science and Medicine66, 1241-55.
27.
Fotheringham, A.S., Brunsdon, C. and Charlton, M.2002: Geographically weighted regression: the analysis of spatially varying relationships. Chichester: Wiley.
28.
Gatrell, A.C.2005: Complexity theory and geographies of health: a critical assessment. Social Science and Medicine60, 2661-71.
29.
Gesler, W.1998: Bath’s reputation as a healing place. In Kearns, R. and Gesler, W. , editors, Putting health into place: landscape, identity and well-being, Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
30.
Hanchette, C.L.2008: The political ecology of lead poisoning in eastern North Carolina. Health and Place14, 209-16.
31.
Haynes, R., Daras, K., Reading, R. and Jones, A.2007: Modifiable neighbourhood units, zone design and residents’ perceptions. Health and Place13, 812-25.
32.
Haynes, R., Jones, A.P., Reading, R., Daras, K. and Emond, A.2008: Neighbourhood variations in child accidents and related child and maternal characteristics: does area definition make a difference ? Health and Place14, 693-701.1.
33.
Haynes, R., Reading, R. and Gale, S.2003: Household and neighbourhood risks for injury to 5-14 year old children. Social Science and Medicine57, 625-36.
34.
Jones, K.2005: Methodology and epistemology of multilevel analysis: approaches from different social sciences. Environment and Planning B32, 926-28.
35.
Joyce, K.E.2007: Public health decision-making: the value of geographical information systems (GIS) mapping. Newcastle: University of Northumbria.
36.
Lake, I.R., Harrison, F.C.D., Chalmers, R.M., Bentham, G., Nichols, G., Hunter, P.R., Kovats, R.S. and Grundy, C.2007: Case-control study of environmental and social factors influencing cryptosporidiosis. European Journal of Epidemiology22, 805-11.
37.
Lessard, C.2007: Complexity and reflexivity: two important issues for economic evaluation in health care. Social Science and Medicine64, 1754-65.
38.
Manson, S.M.2001: Simplifying complexity: a review of complexity theory . Geoforum32, 405-14.
39.
Manson, S. and O’Sullivan, D.2006: Complexity theory in the study of space and place. Environment and Planning A38, 677-92.
40.
Materia, E. and Baglio, G.2005: Health, science, and complexity. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health59, 534-35.
41.
Mayer, J.2000: Geography, ecology and emerging infectious diseases. Social Science and Medicine50, 937-52.
42.
Milligan, C.2001: Geographies of care: space, place and the voluntary sector . Aldershot: Ashgate.
43.
Murdoch, J.1997: Inhuman/nonhuman/human: actor-network theory and the prospects for a nondualistic and symmetrical perspective on nature and society. Environment and Planning D15, 731-56.
44.
Nakaya, T., Fotheringham, A.S., Brunsdon, C. and Charlton, M.2005: Geographically weighted Poisson regression for disease association mapping. Statistics in Medicine24, 2695-717.
45.
O’Sullivan, D.2004: Complexity science and human geography. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers NS29, 282-95.
46.
O’Sullivan, D., Manson, S.M., Messina, J.P. and Crawford, T.W.2006: Space, place, and complexity science. Environment and Planning A38, 611-17.
47.
Pearce, N. and Merletti, F.2006: Complexity, simplicity, and epidemiology. International Journal of Epidemiology35, 515-19.
48.
Petersen, J., Atkinson, P., Petrie, S., Gibin, M., Ashby, D. and Longley, P.2009: Teenage pregnancy - new tools to support local health campaigns. Health and Place15, 300-307.
49.
Portugali, J.2006: Complexity theory as a link between space and place. Environment and Planning A38, 647-64.
50.
Procter, K.L., Clarke, G.P., Ransley, J.K. and Cade, J.2008: Micro-level analysis of childhood obesity, diet, physical activity, residential socioeconomic and social capital variables: where are the obesogenic environments in Leeds?Area40, 323-40.
51.
Rabe-Hesketh, S., Yang, S.Y. and Pickles, A.2001: Multilevel models for censored and latent responses. Statistical Methods in Medical Research10, 409-27.
52.
Raudenbush, S. and Bryk, A.2002: Hierarchical linear models: applications and data analysis methods (second edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
53.
Reading, R., Jones, A., Haynes, R., Daras, K. and Emond, A.2008: Individual factors explain neighbourhood variations in accidents to children under 5 years of age. Social Science and Medicine67, 915-27.
54.
Reed, M. and Harvey, D.L.1992: The new science and the old: complexity and realism in the social sciences. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour22, 353-80.
55.
Resnicow, K. and Vaughan, R.2006: A chaotic view of behavior change: a quantum leap for health promotion. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity3, article 25.
56.
Riva, M., Apparicio, P., Gauvin, L. and Brodeur, J.-M.2008: Establishing the soundness of administrative spatial units for operationalizing the active living potential of residential environments: an exemplar for designing optimal zones. International Journal of Health Geographics7, 43.
57.
Sweeney, K. and Griffiths, F.2002: Complexity and healthcare: an introduction. Abingdon: Radcliffe Medical Press.
58.
Thrift, N.1999: The place of complexity. Theory, Culture and Society16, 31-69.
59.
Titz, A. and Döll, P.2009: Actor modelling and its contribution to the development of integrative strategies for management of pharmaceuticals in drinking water. Social Science and Medicine68, 672-81.
60.
Turshen, M.1977: The political ecology of disease. The Review of Radical Political Economics9, 45-60.
61.
Walby, S.2007: Complexity theory, systems theory, and multiple intersecting social inequalities. Philosophy of the Social Sciences37, 449-70.
62.
Waldrop, M.1992: Complexity: the emerging science at the edge of order and chaos. London: Penguin.
63.
Wheeler, B.W., Rigby, J.E. and Huriwai, T.2006: Pokies and poverty: problem gambling risk factor geography in New Zealand. Health and Place12, 86-96.
