Using spatial analysis to identify areas vulnerable to infant mortality

• Main Authors: Mirella Rodrigues, Cristine Bonfim, José Luiz Portugal, Idê Gomes Dantas Gurgel, Zulma Medeiros
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2013
• Subjects: Mortalidad infantil; análisis espacial; sistemas de información geográfica; Brasil; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/dd5a362980a84895885b4b8b53a05441

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the spatial distribution of infant mortality and identify clusters with high risk of death in the first year of life. METHODS: The Thiessen (Voronoi) polygon method was used to analyze spatial distribution of the infant mortality rate, calculated by municipality. The triennium 2006 - 2008 was used as a reference to estimate the average infant mortality rate, and the first analysis of the spatial distribution of the rate was performed to test for first-order spatial stationarity. The spatial pattern was then analyzed using Moran's index and G-statistic (α = 5%). RESULTS: The surface projections on trends showed that infant mortality is not constant in space. The Moran index (0.34, P < 0.01) and G-statistic (0.03, P < 0.01) confirmed a spatial autocorrelation between infant mortality and clusters when the Thiessen polygon method was used. CONCLUSIONS: The Voronoi polygons proved accurate for spatial analysis of infant mortality and were predictive of clusters with high risk of death in the first year of life.