{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T20:47:44Z","timestamp":1792788464276,"version":"4.5.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1012439","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,31]],"date-time":"2025-03-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743379200000}}],"reference-count":63,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,17]],"date-time":"2025-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742169600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"NSF","award":["2109647"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2109647"]}]},{"name":"NSF","award":["2302970"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2302970"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.ploscompbiol.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Comput Biol"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Agent-based models (ABMs) simulate the behaviors, interactions, and disease transmission between individual \u201cagents\u201d within their environment, enabling the investigation of the underlying processes driving disease dynamics and how these processes may be influenced by policy interventions. Despite the critical role that characteristics such as health attitudes and vaccination status play in disease outcomes, the initialization of agent populations with these variables is often oversimplified, overlooking statistical relationships between attitudes and other characteristics or lacking spatial heterogeneity. Leveraging population synthesis methods to create populations with realistic health attitudes and protective behaviors for spatial ABMs has yet to be fully explored. Therefore, this study introduces a novel application for generating synthetic populations with protective behaviors and associated attitudes using public health surveys instead of traditional individual-level survey datasets from the census. We test our approach using two different public health surveys to create two synthetic populations representing individuals aged 18 and over in Virginia, U.S., and their COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and uptake as of December 2021. Results show that integrating public health surveys into synthetic population generation processes preserves the statistical relationships between vaccine uptake and attitudes in different demographic groups while capturing spatial heterogeneity at fine scales. This approach can support disease simulations that aim to explore how real populations might respond to interventions and how these responses may lead to demographic or geographic health disparities. Our study also demonstrates the potential for initializing agents with variables relevant to public health domains that extend beyond infectious diseases, ultimately advancing data-driven ABMs for geographically targeted decision-making.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1012439","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,17]],"date-time":"2025-03-17T13:31:28Z","timestamp":1742218288000},"page":"e1012439","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Synthetic population generation with public health characteristics for spatial agent-based models"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-8741-3627","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Emma","family":"Von Hoene","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2321-1575","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Amira","family":"Roess","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hamdi","family":"Kavak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taylor","family":"Anderson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","article-title":"Data-driven mobility models for COVID-19 simulation.","author":"J Pesavento","DOI":"10.1145\/3423455.3430305"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","article-title":"A Framework for Simulating Emergent Health Behaviors in Spatial Agent-Based Models of Disease Spread.","author":"E Von Hoene","DOI":"10.1145\/3615891.3628010"},{"issue":"8","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1017","DOI":"10.1177\/0272989X211013306","article-title":"Evaluation of Contact-Tracing Policies against the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Austria: An Agent-Based Simulation","volume":"41","author":"M Bicher","year":"2021","journal-title":"Med Decis Making"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.3390\/systems9020041","article-title":"Adapting an agent-based model of infectious disease spread in an Irish county to COVID-19","volume":"9","author":"E Hunter","year":"2021","journal-title":"Systems"},{"issue":"9","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1792","DOI":"10.1080\/13658816.2020.1741000","article-title":"NEAT approach for testing and validation of geospatial network agent-based model processes: case study of influenza spread","volume":"34","author":"T Anderson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Geogr Inf Sci"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e017353","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2017-017353","article-title":"Disparities in spread and control of influenza in slums of Delhi: findings from an agent-based modelling study","volume":"8","author":"A Adiga","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"issue":"3","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"521","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2019.10.065","article-title":"Seeking the optimal schedule for chickenpox vaccination in Canada: Using an agent-based model to explore the impact of dose timing, coverage and waning of immunity on disease outcomes","volume":"38","author":"E Rafferty","year":"2020","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"issue":"5","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0177514","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0177514","article-title":"Modelling the transmission and control strategies of varicella among school children in Shenzhen, China","volume":"12","author":"X Tang","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"3","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"381","DOI":"10.1068\/b2833","article-title":"A Conceptual Framework for an Individual-Based Spatially Explicit Epidemiological Model","volume":"31","author":"L Bian","year":"2004","journal-title":"Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref010","article-title":"Agent-Based Models of Geographical Systems [Internet].","author":"AJ Heppenstall"},{"issue":"7866","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-021-03694-x","article-title":"Thinking clearly about social aspects of infectious disease transmission","volume":"595","author":"C Buckee","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"7594","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S61","DOI":"10.1038\/531S61a","article-title":"Disease: Poverty and pathogens","volume":"531","author":"M Eisenstein","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"563247","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.563247","article-title":"COMOKIT: A Modeling Kit to Understand, Analyze, and Compare the Impacts of Mitigation Policies Against the COVID-19 Epidemic at the Scale of a City","volume":"8","author":"B Gaudou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"issue":"5","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"654","DOI":"10.1017\/S0950268808001416","article-title":"Household structure and infectious disease transmission","volume":"137","author":"T House","year":"2009","journal-title":"Epidemiol Infect"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.18564\/jasss.2098","article-title":"Synthetic population dynamics: A model of household demography","volume":"16","author":"N Geard","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation"},{"issue":"7","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1124","DOI":"10.1017\/S0950268807007959","article-title":"The impact of contact structure on infectious disease control: influenza and antiviral agents","volume":"135","author":"H-P Duerr","year":"2007","journal-title":"Epidemiol Infect"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1011810","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1011810","article-title":"Generating synthetic population for simulating the spatiotemporal dynamics of epidemics","volume":"20","author":"K Zhu","year":"2024","journal-title":"PLoS Comput Biol"},{"issue":"4","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2007.04.005","article-title":"Mixing patterns between age groups in social networks","volume":"29","author":"SY Del Valle","year":"2007","journal-title":"Social Networks"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.18564\/jasss.2768","article-title":"Evaluating the performance of iterative proportional fitting for spatial microsimulation: New tests for an established technique","volume":"18","author":"R Lovelace","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Artif Soc Soc Simul"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref020","article-title":"National Household Travel Survey [Internet]."},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref021","article-title":"Census.gov. [cited 2023 Jul 12].","author":"UC Bureau"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1009760","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1009760","article-title":"Individual risk perception and empirical social structures shape the dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks","volume":"18","author":"V d\u2019Andrea","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS Comput Biol"},{"issue":"50","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1247","DOI":"10.1098\/rsif.2010.0142","article-title":"Modelling the influence of human behaviour on the spread of infectious diseases: a review","volume":"7","author":"S Funk","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of the Royal Society Interface"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1016\/j.epidem.2014.09.005","article-title":"Nine challenges in incorporating the dynamics of behaviour in infectious diseases models","volume":"10","author":"S Funk","year":"2015","journal-title":"Epidemics"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Manfredi P, D\u2019Onofrio A. Modeling the Interplay Between Human Behavior and the Spread of Infectious Diseases. Springer Science & Business Media; 2013. 329 p.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4614-5474-8"},{"issue":"12","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1183","DOI":"10.1177\/00375497231184898","article-title":"A framework for modeling human behavior in large-scale agent-based epidemic simulations","volume":"99","author":"J de Mooij","year":"2023","journal-title":"Simulation: Transactions of the Society for Modeling and Simulation International"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref027","article-title":"Fear, behavior, and the COVID-19 pandemic: A city-scale agent-based model using socio-demographic and spatial map data","volume":"25","author":"CO Retzlaff","year":"2022","journal-title":"JASSS - Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation"},{"issue":"4","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref028","article-title":"Conflicting information and compliance with COVID-19 behavioral recommendations","volume":"25","author":"A Naugle","year":"2022","journal-title":"JASSS - J Artif Soc Soc Simul"},{"issue":"11","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0186492","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0186492","article-title":"Epidemic spreading in multiplex networks influenced by opinion exchanges on vaccination","volume":"12","author":"LG Alvarez-Zuzek","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref030","first-page":"100555","article-title":"Modelling the impact of a high-uptake bivalent booster scenario on the COVID-19 burden and healthcare costs in New York City","volume":"24","author":"A Pandey","year":"2023","journal-title":"Lancet Reg Health Am"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.18564\/jasss.4762","article-title":"Generation of synthetic populations in social simulations: A review of methods and practices","volume":"25","author":"K Chapuis","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Artif Soc Soc Simul"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.18564\/jasss.4482","article-title":"Generating a two-layered synthetic population for French municipalities: Results and evaluation of four synthetic reconstruction methods","volume":"24","author":"B Yameogo","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Artif Soc Soc Simul"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","article-title":"Using Generative Adversarial Networks to Assist Synthetic Population Creation for Simulations.","author":"S Kotnana","DOI":"10.23919\/ANNSIM55834.2022.9859422"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref034","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trb.2018.06.002","article-title":"A hierarchical mixture modeling framework for population synthesis","volume":"114","author":"L Sun","year":"2018","journal-title":"Transportation Research Part B: Methodological"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref035","article-title":"A comparison of synthetic reconstruction and combinatorial optimisation approaches to the creation of small-area microdata","author":"Z Huang","year":"2001","journal-title":"Department of Geography, University of Liverpool"},{"issue":"C","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"243","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trb.2013.09.012","article-title":"Simulation based population synthesis","volume":"58","author":"B Farooq","year":"2013","journal-title":"Transportation Research Part B: Methodological"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trc.2015.10.010","article-title":"A Bayesian network approach for population synthesis","volume":"61","author":"L Sun","year":"2015","journal-title":"Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trb.2016.04.007","article-title":"Hidden Markov model-based population synthesis","volume":"90","author":"I Saadi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Transportation Research Part B: Methodological"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","article-title":"SPEW: Synthetic Populations and Ecosystems of the World [Internet].","author":"S Gallagher","DOI":"10.1080\/10618600.2018.1442342"},{"issue":"6","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref040","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1194","DOI":"10.1080\/13658816.2018.1440563","article-title":"Gen: a generic toolkit to generate spatially explicit synthetic populations","volume":"32","author":"K Chapuis","year":"2018","journal-title":"International Journal of Geographical Information Science"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref041","unstructured":"Ye X, Konduri K, Pendyala R, Sana B, Waddell P. Methodology to match distributions of both household and person attributes in generation of synthetic populations. 2009."},{"issue":"3","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref042","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"685","DOI":"10.1007\/s11116-011-9367-4","article-title":"Advances in population synthesis: fitting many attributes per agent and fitting to household and person margins simultaneously","volume":"39","author":"DR Pritchard","year":"2012","journal-title":"Transportation"},{"issue":"4","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref043","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"427","DOI":"10.1214\/aoms\/1177731829","article-title":"On a least squares adjustment of a sampled frequency table when the expected marginal totals are known","volume":"11","author":"WE Deming","year":"1940","journal-title":"Annals of Mathematical Statistics"},{"issue":"6","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref044","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1016\/0965-8564(96)00004-3","article-title":"Creating synthetic baseline populations","volume":"30","author":"RJ Beckman","year":"1996","journal-title":"Transportation Research Part Policy and Practice"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref045","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compenvurbsys.2013.03.004","article-title":"Truncate, replicate, sample: A method for creating integer weights for spatial microsimulation","volume":"41","author":"R Lovelace","year":"2013","journal-title":"Comput Environ Urban Syst"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref046","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","article-title":"RecovUS: An agent-based model of post-disaster housing recovery.","author":"S Moradi","DOI":"10.18564\/jasss.4445"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref047","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18564\/jasss.1909","article-title":"Creating realistic synthetic populations at varying spatial scales: A comparative critique of population synthesis techniques","volume":"15","author":"K Harland","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref048","article-title":"Effect of timing of and adherence to social distancing measures on COVID-19 burden in the United States","author":"O Alagoz","year":"2020","journal-title":"Annals of Internal Medicine"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref049","article-title":"Cost\u2013benefit of limited isolation and testing in COVID-19 mitigation | Scientific Reports. Sci Rep [Internet].","author":"A Eilersen"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref050","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compenvurbsys.2018.06.008","article-title":"A large-scale location-based social network to understanding the impact of human geo-social interaction patterns on vaccination strategies in an urbanized area","volume":"72","author":"W Luo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Computers, Environment and Urban Systems"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref051","article-title":"A Framework for Simulating Emergent Health Behaviors in Spatial Agent-Based Models of Disease Spread. In: Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on GeoSpatial Simulation [Internet].","author":"E Von Hoene"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref052","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mao L. Predicting Self-Initiated Preventive Behavior Against Epidemics with an Agent-Based Relative Agreement Model. J Artif Soc Soc Simul. 2015;18(4):6.","DOI":"10.18564\/jasss.2892"},{"issue":"5","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref053","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0251737","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0251737","article-title":"A Discrete-Event, Simulated Social Agent-Based Network Transmission (DESSABNeT) model for communicable diseases: Method and validation using SARS-CoV-2 data in three large Australian cities","volume":"16","author":"NJC Stapelberg","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"8","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref054","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e199768","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2019.9768","article-title":"Forecasted Size of Measles Outbreaks Associated With Vaccination Exemptions for Schoolchildren","volume":"2","author":"DR Sinclair","year":"2019","journal-title":"JAMA Netw Open"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref055","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","article-title":"Multi-agent system collision model to predict the transmission of seasonal influenza in Tokyo from 2014\u20132015 to 2018\u20132019 seasons. Heliyon [Internet].","author":"N Tomizawa","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2021.e07859"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref056","article-title":"American Community Survey (ACS) [Internet]."},{"issue":"17","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref057","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9342","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18179342","article-title":"What demographic, social, and contextual factors influence the intention to use COVID-19 vaccines: A scoping review","volume":"18","author":"B AlShurman","year":"2021","journal-title":"International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref058","article-title":"Household Pulse Survey [Internet]."},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref059","article-title":"COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States, County | Data | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Internet]."},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref060","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1538-4632.1995.tb00338.x","article-title":"Local indicators of spatial association\u2014LISA","volume":"27","author":"L Anselin","year":"1995","journal-title":"Geographical Analysis"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref061","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"284","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8306.2004.09402005.x","article-title":"Tobler\u2019s First Law and Spatial Analysis","volume":"94","author":"HJ Miller","year":"2004","journal-title":"Annals of the Association of American Geographers"},{"key":"pcbi.1012439.ref062","first-page":"1","article-title":"Could Earlier Availability of Boosters and Pediatric Vaccines Have Reduced Impact of COVID-19?","author":"ET Rosenstrom"},{"issue":"6","key":"pcbi.1012439.ref063","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1011263","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1011263","article-title":"Charting the spatial dynamics of early SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Washington state","volume":"19","author":"TS Brett","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLOS Computational Biology"}],"updated-by":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1012439","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,31]],"date-time":"2025-03-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743379200000}}],"container-title":["PLOS Computational Biology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1012439","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,31]],"date-time":"2025-03-31T17:06:44Z","timestamp":1743440804000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1012439"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Nicholas","family":"Geard,","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,17]]},"references-count":63,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,17]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1012439","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1101\/2024.09.18.24312662","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1553-7358"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1553-7358","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,17]]}}}