Pilot study of using GIS to visualize health status distribution: case study of Songjiang District, Shanghai

The aim of this study was to investigate the geographic variation in mortality indicators in Songjiang District of Shanghai under rapid change with urbanization. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to visualize the distributions of health status and to test the extent of spatial auto-correlation in the indictors. In 2001, total crude mortality was 687/100,000 for the district; the rates for the townships (N=15) in the district ranged from 444/100,000 to 805/100,000. GIS maps indicated that the mortality was higher in the marginal areas of the district. Significant positive auto-correlations were found in total crude mortality rates, death rate for infectious diseases, and death rates for digestive diseases. The measures that consider intra-region inequality in health needs will be required in the regions under urbanization.