Bayesian factor analysis for spatially correlated data: application to cancer incidence data in Scotland

A hierarchical Bayesian factor model for multivariate spatially correlated data is proposed. Multiple cancer incidence data in Scotland are jointly analyzed, looking for common components, able to detect etiological factors of diseases hidden behind the data. The proposed method searches factor scores incorporating a dependence within observations due to a geographical structure. The great flexibility of the Bayesian approach allows the inclusion of prior opinions about adjacent regions having highly correlated observable and latent variables. The proposed model is an extension of a model proposed by Rowe (2003a) and starts from the introduction of separable covariance matrix for the observations. A Gibbs sampling algorithm is implemented to sample from the posterior distributions.