The application of spatial empirical Bayesian smoothing method in spatial analysis of bacillary dysentery: A case study in Yudu County, Jiangxi Province

Abstract

Bacillary dysentery (BD) has become one of the major public health threats to the sustainable development of human beings. The primary objective of this paper is to validate the effectiveness of applying spatial empirical Bayesian smoothing (SEBS) method in spatial analysis of BD in Yudu County, Jiangxi Province. By using SEBS method in calculating BD incidence, we compared the raw incidence data and smoothed incidence data. Spatial distribution map and global autocorrelation analysis were adopted to explore the effect of SEBS method in BD analysis. The result showed that SEBS method provided a stable incidence estimate in epidemic research. The proposed method could be used as an effective tool for studying the spatial distribution of BD, especially in town level study.