Analysis on the spatiotemporal characteristics of gastric cancer in Liangzhou District, Wuwei from 2011 to 2012

Objective To explore the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of gastric cancer in Liangzhou District, Wuwei from 2011 to 2012.Methods Based on the data of gastric cancer in Wuwei during 2011-2012, spatial empirical bayesian smoothing and space-time scan statistics analysis were carried out.Results The distribution of high and low gastric cancer incidence regions were concentrated after smoothed, and presented an spatial cluster phenomenon. Both purely spatial scan and space-time scan detected gastric cancer clusters in wuwei, purely spatial scan analysis showed that there have three clusters in 2011-2012, which included Yongchang, Wuhe, Hongxiang and other countries; Space-time scan analysis identified three spatiotemporal clusters in January 1,2011 to December 31,2011, but there had differences in cluster`s type and size between purely spatial scan and space-time scan. The result of space time scan statistics between male and female identified clusters in study area, and the cluster of female was larger than male.Conclusions The current gastric cancer incidence is still at a relative high level, the situation of prevent and control is not optimistic. The spatial empirical bayesian smoothing and space-time scan statistic method can overcome the differences among the regions, and find the spatial distribution of gastric cancer and spatial temporal clusters accurately.