[Health Atlases in Germany - An Overview]

There has been a steady increase in the interest in regional health analysis. This is reflected both in national and international publications of health atlases. The aim of this study was to examine the current national health atlases, as instruments of communication, in a comparative analysis.

First, a systematic internet search was done using Google, Unbubble and Bing. Prior to that, the term "Atlas", search terms (e. g., atlas, health) and inclusions (e. g., period, language) had been defined. To categorize the result, 12 categories (e. g., data base, topics) and 89 attributes (e. g., epidemiology, drugs) were created. The results found were allocated to these categories and attributes in a matrix.

49 results were found, corresponding to the inclusion criteria. Only 16 of all results were an atlas in terms of the definition. The other findings can be classified as "reports with maps". Epidemiology and health care structure were a topic in 30 and 32, respectively of all the findings. Health care costs and prevention were found in 17 and 16 of all cases, respectively.

The study has identified a variety of health atlases. However, the vast majority of all findings could be categorized as a report with maps of a different quality and not as atlases. Nevertheless, the analysis shows the basic interest in regional topics in the form of atlases for health sciences.