Ozonoff, AlexanderJeffery, CarolineManjourides, Justin DanielWhite, Laura ForsbergPagano, Marcello2011-05-192007Ozonoff, Al, Caroline Jeffery, Justin Manjourides, Laura Forsberg White, and Marcello Pagano. 2007. Effect of spatial resolution on cluster detection: a simulation study. International Journal of Health Geographics 6: 52.1476-072Xhttp://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4891663Background: Aggregation of spatial data is intended to protect privacy, but some effects of aggregation on spatial methods have not yet been quantified. Methods: We generated 3,000 spatial data sets and evaluated power of detection at 12 different levels of aggregation using the spatial scan statistic implemented in SaTScan v6.0. Results: Power to detect clusters decreased from nearly 100% when using exact locations to roughly 40% at the coarsest level of spatial resolution. Conclusion: Aggregation has the potential for obfuscation.en-USJournal Article2011-05-1910.1186/1476-072X-6-52