EgoCor: An R Package to Facilitate the Use of Exponential Semi-Variograms for Modelling the Local Spatial Correlation Structure in Social Epidemiology

For the evaluation of small-area health inequalities, Sauzet et al. suggested to take an ego-centred approach and model the spatial correlation structure of health outcomes at the individual level. Existing tools for the analysis of spatial data in R might appear too complex to non-specialists which could limit the use of the approach. The R package EgoCor offers a user-friendly interface. Calling one function, a range of models is estimated and displayed in graphics and parameter tables to facilitate the decision making about which exponential semi-variogram parameters fit either raw data or residuals best. Moreover, a measure of uncertainty proposed by Dyck and Sauzet is obtainable. The EgoCor package is available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network and Github.