Department of Statistics and Data Science, Faculty of Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing.
Mathematics and Statistics Department, Institute of Business Management, Korangi Creek, Karachi.
Geospat Health. 2023 Oct 5;18(2). doi: 10.4081/gh.2023.1192.
Anaemia is a common public-health problem affecting about two-thirds of pregnant women in developing countries. Spacetime cluster analysis of anemia cases is important for publichealth policymakers to design evidence-based intervention strategies. This study discovered the potential space-time clusters of anemia in pregnant women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, from 2014 to 2020 using space-time scan statistic (SatScan). The results show that the most likely cluster of anemia was seen in the rural areas in the eastern part of the province covering five districts from 2017 to 2019. However, three secondary clusters in the West and one in the North were still active, signifying important targets of interest for public-health interventions. The potential anemia clusters in the province's rural areas might be associated with the lack of nutritional education in women and lack of access to sufficient diet due to financial constraints.
贫血是发展中国家约三分之二孕妇面临的常见公共卫生问题。对贫血病例进行时空聚类分析，对于公共卫生政策制定者设计基于证据的干预策略非常重要。本研究使用时空扫描统计（SatScan），于 2014 年至 2020 年期间发现了巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省孕妇贫血的潜在时空聚类。研究结果表明，2017 年至 2019 年，该省东部农村地区的贫血最有可能形成集群，涵盖五个区。然而，西部仍有三个次要集群，北部有一个集群仍然活跃，这表明它们是公共卫生干预的重要目标。该省农村地区潜在的贫血集群可能与妇女缺乏营养教育以及由于经济限制导致无法获得充足饮食有关。
