Publications

A comprehensive portfolio of professional recognition and peer-reviewed works demonstrating methodological rigor across health and democracy sectors.

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Research Themes & Directions

What is the primary focus of Kevin Matthews' work in spatial epidemiology?

The work focuses on identifying and quantifying geographic bias in health outcomes, specifically looking at how residential segregation, rurality, and travel-time to care create structural disparities in cancer survival and dementia prevalence.

How does this research utilize administrative health data?

Using Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage (MA) claims data, we model per-capita spending and health service utilization potential across rural-urban continuums to detect regional variations in chronic condition concentration.

What methodological contributions have been made to geographic access modeling?

Key contributions include the development of the supply-concentric demand-accumulation spatial availability index and new methods for analyzing time-to-place data using survival analysis (Cox Proportional Hazard modeling).

Jump to: By Topic Area By Quantitative Methods By Data Environment

Papers by Topic Area

COVID-19

Matthews KA, Ullrich F, Gaglioti AH, Dugan S, Chen MS, Hall DM. Nonmetropolitan COVID‐19 incidence and mortality rates surpassed metropolitan rates within the first 24 weeks of the pandemic declaration: United States, March 1–October 18, 2020. The Journal of Rural Health. 2021;37(2):272-277.
Bayne A, Singer R, Spradley C, Matthews KA, et al. Meeting Needs of Diverse Older Adults and Caregivers During Public Health Emergencies: What Can We Learn From COVID-19? Innovation in Aging. 2021;5(Supplement_1):231-232.
Mennis J, Matthews KA, Huston S. Geospatial Perspectives on the Intersection of Chronic Disease and COVID-19. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2022;19.

Cancer (disease)

Beyer KM, Zhou Y, Matthews KA, Bemanian A, Laud PW, Nattinger AB. New spatially continuous indices of redlining and racial bias in mortgage lending: links to survival after breast cancer diagnosis and implications for health disparities research. Health & Place. 2016;40:34-43.
Beyer KM, Zhou Y, Matthews KA, et al. Breast and Colorectal Cancer Survival Disparities in Southeastern Wisconsin. Wisconsin Medical Journal. 2016;115(1):17-21.
Oliver MN, Matthews KA, Siadaty M, Hauck FR, Pickle LW. Geographic bias related to geocoding in epidemiologic studies. International Journal of Health Geographics. 2005;4(1):29.

Cancer (treatment)

Matthews KA, Kahl AR, Gaglioti AH, Charlton ME. Differences in Travel Time to Cancer Surgery for Colon versus Rectal Cancer in a Rural State: A New Method for Analyzing Time‐to‐Place Data Using Survival Analysis. The Journal of Rural Health. 2020.
Charlton ME, Matthews KA, Gaglioti A, et al. Is Travel Time to Colonoscopy Associated With Late‐Stage Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Iowa? The Journal of Rural Health. 2016;32(4):363-373.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Where Do Patients With Cancer in Iowa Receive Radiation Therapy? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2014;10(1):20-25.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Who does not receive treatment for cancer? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2013;9(1):20-26.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

DeLara DL, Pollack LM, Wall HK, Matthews KA, et al. County-Level Cardiac Rehabilitation and Broadband Availability: Opportunities for Hybrid Care in the United States. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention. 2022:10.1097.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Croft JB, Wheaton AG, Liu Y, Matthews, KA, et al. Urban-Rural County and State Differences in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - United States, 2015. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2018;67(7):205.
Holt JB, Matthews KA, Lu H, et al. Small Area Estimates of Populations With Chronic Conditions for Community Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies. American Journal of Public Health. 2019;109(S4):S325-S331.

Dementia

Matthews KA, Murray CT, Nguyen BL, et al. Alzheimer's disease and related dementias among Medicare beneficiaries aged≥ 65 years in rural America, by Census region and select demographic characteristics: 2020. The Journal of Rural Health. 2025;41(1):e12902.
Matthews KA, Xu W, Gaglioti AH, et al. Racial and ethnic estimates of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in the United States (2015–2060) in adults aged≥ 65 years. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2018.
Apostolou A, Kennedy JL, Person MK, Matthews KA. Alzheimer's disease and related dementia diagnoses among American Indian and Alaska Native adults aged≥ 45 years, Indian Health Service System, 2016–2020. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2024;72(9):2834-2841.

Emergency Preparedness

Bayne A, Singer R, Spradley C, Matthews KA, et al. Meeting Needs of Diverse Older Adults and Caregivers During Public Health Emergencies: What Can We Learn From COVID-19? Innovation in Aging. 2021;5(Supplement_1):231-232.
Holt JB, Matthews KA, Lu H, et al. Small Area Estimates of Populations With Chronic Conditions for Community Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies. American Journal of Public Health. 2019;109(S4):S325-S331.

Hospital-acquired Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Immergluck LC, Leong T, Matthews KA, et al. Geographic surveillance of community associated MRSA infections in children using electronic health record data. BMC infectious diseases. 2019;19(1):170.

Obesity and Health Behaviors

Matthews KA. Health-Related Behaviors by Urban-Rural County Classification-United States, 2013 (vol 66, pg 5, 2017). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2017;66(7):196-196.
Lundeen EA, Park S, Pan L, O'Toole T, Matthews KA, Blanck HM. Obesity Prevalence Among Adults Living in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties - United States, 2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2018;67(23):653.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Matthews KA, Gaglioti AH, Holt JB, Wheaton AG, Croft JB. Estimating health service utilization potential using the supply-concentric demand-accumulation spatial availability index: a pulmonary rehabilitation case study. International Journal of Health Geographics. 2020;19(1):1-10.
Matthews KA, Gaglioti AH, Holt JB, Wheaton AG, Croft JB. Using spatially adaptive floating catchments to measure the geographic availability of a health care service: Pulmonary rehabilitation in the southeastern United States. Health & place. 2019;56:165-173.

Suicide

Anthony KM, Ertl A, Leavitt RA, Crosby AE, Diduk-Smith RM, Matthews KA. Detection of Suicide Clusters using Small-Area Geographic Data from the Virginia Violent Death Reporting System, 2010–2015. Virginia Journal of Public Health. 2023;8(1):5.

Papers by Quantitative Methods

Demographic Trend Analysis

Matthews KA, Murray CT, Nguyen BL, et al. Alzheimer's disease and related dementias among Medicare beneficiaries aged≥ 65 years in rural America, by Census region and select demographic characteristics: 2020. The Journal of Rural Health. 2025;41(1):e12902.
Matthews KA, Ullrich F, Gaglioti AH, Dugan S, Chen MS, Hall DM. Nonmetropolitan COVID‐19 incidence and mortality rates surpassed metropolitan rates within the first 24 weeks of the pandemic declaration: United States, March 1–October 18, 2020. The Journal of Rural Health. 2021;37(2):272-277.
Matthews KA, Xu W, Gaglioti AH, et al. Racial and ethnic estimates of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in the United States (2015–2060) in adults aged≥ 65 years. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2018.
Apostolou A, Kennedy JL, Person MK, Matthews KA. Alzheimer's disease and related dementia diagnoses among American Indian and Alaska Native adults aged≥ 45 years, Indian Health Service System, 2016–2020. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2024;72(9):2834-2841.

Geocoding

Oliver MN, Matthews KA, Siadaty M, Hauck FR, Pickle LW. Geographic bias related to geocoding in epidemiologic studies. International Journal of Health Geographics. 2005;4(1):29.

Geographic cluster detection

Matthews KA. Spatiotemporal correlation analysis of colorectal cancer late-stage incidence, mortality, and survival: Iowa, 1999 to 2010. Dissertation, University of Iowa, 2018.
Anthony KM, Ertl A, Leavitt RA, Crosby AE, Diduk-Smith RM, Matthews KA. Detection of Suicide Clusters using Small-Area Geographic Data from the Virginia Violent Death Reporting System, 2010–2015. Virginia Journal of Public Health. 2023;8(1):5.
Oliver MN, Matthews KA, Siadaty M, Hauck FR, Pickle LW. Geographic bias related to geocoding in epidemiologic studies. International Journal of Health Geographics. 2005;4(1):29.

Modeling geographic access to health care

Matthews KA, Gaglioti AH, Holt JB, Wheaton AG, Croft JB. Using spatially adaptive floating catchments to measure the geographic availability of a health care service: Pulmonary rehabilitation in the southeastern United States. Health & place. 2019;56:165-173.
Matthews KA, Kahl AR, Gaglioti AH, Charlton ME. Differences in Travel Time to Cancer Surgery for Colon versus Rectal Cancer in a Rural State: A New Method for Analyzing Time‐to‐Place Data Using Survival Analysis. The Journal of Rural Health. 2020.
Charlton ME, Matthews KA, Gaglioti A, et al. Is Travel Time to Colonoscopy Associated With Late‐Stage Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Iowa? The Journal of Rural Health. 2016;32(4):363-373.
DeLara DL, Pollack LM, Wall HK, Matthews KA, et al. County-Level Cardiac Rehabilitation and Broadband Availability: Opportunities for Hybrid Care in the United States. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention. 2022:10.1097.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Access to chemotherapy services by availability of local and visiting oncologists. Journal of Oncology Practice. 2014;10(1):26-31.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Where Do Patients With Cancer in Iowa Receive Radiation Therapy? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2014;10(1):20-25.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Who does not receive treatment for cancer? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2013;9(1):20-26.

Small Area Estimation

Greenlund KJ, Lu H, Wang Y, Matthews KA, et al. Peer Reviewed: PLACES: Local Data for Better Health. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2022;19.
Holt JB, Matthews KA, Lu H, et al. Small Area Estimates of Populations With Chronic Conditions for Community Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies. American Journal of Public Health. 2019;109(S4):S325-S331.
Wang Y, Holt JB, Zhang X, Matthews KA, et al. Comparison of Methods for Estimating Prevalence of Chronic Diseases and Health Behaviors for Small Geographic Areas: Boston Validation Study, 2013. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2017;14:E99-E99.
Wang Y, Zhang X, Lu H, Matthews KA, Greenlund K. Intercensal and Postcensal Estimation of Population Size for Small Geographic Areas in the United States. International Journal of Population Data Science. 2020;5(1).

Small Number Problem

Matthews KA. Spatiotemporal correlation analysis of colorectal cancer late-stage incidence, mortality, and survival: Iowa, 1999 to 2010. Dissertation, University of Iowa, 2018.
Anthony KM, Ertl A, Leavitt RA, Crosby AE, Diduk-Smith RM, Matthews KA. Detection of Suicide Clusters using Small-Area Geographic Data from the Virginia Violent Death Reporting System, 2010–2015. Virginia Journal of Public Health. 2023;8(1):5.
Oliver MN, Matthews KA, Siadaty M, Hauck FR, Pickle LW. Geographic bias related to geocoding in epidemiologic studies. International Journal of Health Geographics. 2005;4(1):29.

Spatiotemporal correlation

Matthews KA. Spatiotemporal correlation analysis of colorectal cancer late-stage incidence, mortality, and survival: Iowa, 1999 to 2010. Dissertation, University of Iowa, 2018.

Survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier Survival Estimates and Cox Proportional Hazard)

Matthews KA, Kahl AR, Gaglioti AH, Charlton ME. Differences in Travel Time to Cancer Surgery for Colon versus Rectal Cancer in a Rural State: A New Method for Analyzing Time‐to‐Place Data Using Survival Analysis. The Journal of Rural Health. 2020.
Matthews KA. Spatiotemporal correlation analysis of colorectal cancer late-stage incidence, mortality, and survival: Iowa, 1999 to 2010. Dissertation, University of Iowa, 2018.
Beyer KM, Zhou Y, Matthews KA, Bemanian A, Laud PW, Nattinger AB. New spatially continuous indices of redlining and racial bias in mortgage lending: links to survival after breast cancer diagnosis and implications for health disparities research. Health & Place. 2016;40:34-43.
Beyer KM, Zhou Y, Matthews KA, et al. Breast and Colorectal Cancer Survival Disparities in Southeastern Wisconsin. Wisconsin Medical Journal. 2016;115(1):17-21.
Charlton ME, Matthews KA, Gaglioti A, et al. Is Travel Time to Colonoscopy Associated With Late‐Stage Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Iowa? The Journal of Rural Health. 2016;32(4):363-373.

Travel time analysis

Matthews KA, Gaglioti AH, Holt JB, Wheaton AG, Croft JB. Using spatially adaptive floating catchments to measure the geographic availability of a health care service: Pulmonary rehabilitation in the southeastern United States. Health & place. 2019;56:165-173.
Matthews KA, Kahl AR, Gaglioti AH, Charlton ME. Differences in Travel Time to Cancer Surgery for Colon versus Rectal Cancer in a Rural State: A New Method for Analyzing Time‐to‐Place Data Using Survival Analysis. The Journal of Rural Health. 2020.
Charlton ME, Matthews KA, Gaglioti A, et al. Is Travel Time to Colonoscopy Associated With Late‐Stage Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Iowa? The Journal of Rural Health. 2016;32(4):363-373.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Where Do Patients With Cancer in Iowa Receive Radiation Therapy? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2014;10(1):20-25.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Who does not receive treatment for cancer? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2013;9(1):20-26.

Papers by Data Environment

Administrative health utilization claims (Medicare) data

Matthews KA, Gaglioti AH, Holt JB, McGuire LC, Greenlund KJ. County-Level Concentration of Selected Chronic Conditions Among Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries and Its Association with Medicare Spending in the United States, 2017. Population Health Management. 2020.
Matthews KA, Holt J, Gaglioti AH, et al. County-Level Variation in Per Capita Spending for Multiple Chronic Conditions Among Fee-for-Service Medicare Beneficiaries, United States, 2014. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2016;13:E162-E162.
Matthews KA, Murray CT, Nguyen BL, et al. Alzheimer's disease and related dementias among Medicare beneficiaries aged≥ 65 years in rural America, by Census region and select demographic characteristics: 2020. The Journal of Rural Health. 2025;41(1):e12902.
Charlton ME, Matthews KA, Gaglioti A, et al. Is Travel Time to Colonoscopy Associated With Late‐Stage Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Iowa? The Journal of Rural Health. 2016;32(4):363-373.

Cancer Registry Data

Matthews KA, Kahl AR, Gaglioti AH, Charlton ME. Differences in Travel Time to Cancer Surgery for Colon versus Rectal Cancer in a Rural State: A New Method for Analyzing Time‐to‐Place Data Using Survival Analysis. The Journal of Rural Health. 2020.
Matthews KA. Spatiotemporal correlation analysis of colorectal cancer late-stage incidence, mortality, and survival: Iowa, 1999 to 2010. Dissertation, University of Iowa, 2018.
Beyer KM, Zhou Y, Matthews KA, Bemanian A, Laud PW, Nattinger AB. New spatially continuous indices of redlining and racial bias in mortgage lending: links to survival after breast cancer diagnosis and implications for health disparities research. Health & Place. 2016;40:34-43.
Beyer KM, Zhou Y, Matthews KA, et al. Breast and Colorectal Cancer Survival Disparities in Southeastern Wisconsin. Wisconsin Medical Journal. 2016;115(1):17-21.
Charlton ME, Matthews KA, Gaglioti A, et al. Is Travel Time to Colonoscopy Associated With Late‐Stage Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Iowa? The Journal of Rural Health. 2016;32(4):363-373.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Where Do Patients With Cancer in Iowa Receive Radiation Therapy? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2014;10(1):20-25.
Ward MM, Ullrich F, Matthews KA, et al. Who does not receive treatment for cancer? Journal of Oncology Practice. 2013;9(1):20-26.

Electronic Health Record Data

Apostolou A, Kennedy JL, Person MK, Matthews KA. Alzheimer's disease and related dementia diagnoses among American Indian and Alaska Native adults aged≥ 45 years, Indian Health Service System, 2016–2020. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2024;72(9):2834-2841.
Immergluck LC, Leong T, Matthews KA, et al. Geographic surveillance of community associated MRSA infections in children using electronic health record data. BMC infectious diseases. 2019;19(1):170.

Research Themes & Directions

What is the primary focus of Kevin Matthews' work in spatial epidemiology?

The work focuses on identifying and quantifying geographic bias in health outcomes, specifically looking at how residential segregation, rurality, and travel-time to care create structural disparities in cancer survival and dementia prevalence.

How does this research utilize administrative health data?

Using Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage (MA) claims data, we model per-capita spending and health service utilization potential across rural-urban continuums to detect regional variations in chronic condition concentration.

What methodological contributions have been made to geographic access modeling?

Key contributions include the development of the supply-concentric demand-accumulation spatial availability index and new methods for analyzing time-to-place data using survival analysis (Cox Proportional Hazard modeling).