OBJECTIVETo explore the spatial distribution of malaria in Hainan province.

METHODSMaps of spatial distribution on malaria incidence in Hainan province from 1995 to 1999 were produced, using a spatial local interpolation technique in the ArcGIS 8.1 software. Cross-validation techniques were used to evaluate the fitness of the distribution maps.

RESULTSThe spatial distribution of malaria in Hainan province from 1995 to 1999 showed that the incidence of malaria in the southern part of Hainan province were higher than that in the north. In the south, the incidence of malaria in east coastal areas were higher than that of other parts, especially in Wuzhi and Yingge mountains. The prediction error of the cross-validation indicated that the spatial distribution maps of malaria in Hainan had good fitness of malaria incidence of Hainan province.

CONCLUSIONSpatial local interpolation technique seemed to be promising in describing the spatial distribution of malaria.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Data Collection ; Female ; Geographic Information Systems ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malaria ; epidemiology ; Male ; Maps as Topic ; Middle Aged ; Satellite Communications