Spatial distribution and clustering in birth defects from 2010 to 2013 in Shaanxi Province

OBJECTIVE: To explore the spatial distribution and clustering in birth defects from 2010 to 2013 in Shaanxi Province.
 Methods: Spatial distribution was used to describe the birth defects, while ordinary Kriging method was used to predict the status of birth defects in Shaanxi province. The spatial characteristics for the birth defects at the county/district level were analyzed by spatial autocorrelation.
 Results: The overall incidence of birth defects was 219.196/10 000; Birth defect did not appear to be a random distribution but show a significant spatial aggregation. Spatial interpolation predicted the geographic distribution for occurrence of birth defects in Shaanxi Province. Local autocorrelation analysis showed nine "hot spot areas" for birth defects, such as Qian County, Liquan County, Yongshou County, Bin County, Fufeng County, Jingyang County, Chunhua County, Wugong County and Xingping City, and seven "cold spot areas" including Jia County, Yuyang District, Mizhi County, Suide County, Wubu County, Qingjian County and Zizhou District.
 Conclusion: There are spatial clustering in birth defects from 2010 to 2013 in Shaanxi Province. Spatial interpolation and spatial autocorrelation can be used to predict the spatial features of birth defects in the whole province and provide evidence for the further intervention.