Spatial Analysis of Social Determinants for Tuberculosis in Thailand
Mathuros Tipayamongkholgul PhD*, Jongkol Podang MSc*, Sukontha Siri PhD*
Affiliation : * Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective : The present study aimed to investigate the association between social factors and spatial risk of TB in Thailand.
Material and Method: Ecological study and spatial statistics were employed to examine effects of social factors on age-
standardized morbidity ratios of TB (SMR) in 76 provinces in Thailand during 2006-2009.
Results : The autoregressive model reveals similarity of TB risk in proximal areas (Moran’s I = 0.612; p<0.05). After
adjusting for HIV epidemic and spatial autocorrelation (ρ = 0.581, p<0.001), a spatial autoregressive model revealed
significant relationship of unemployment rate (β = 0.073) and household income (β = 0.134) to spatial risk of TB with
variance of explanation 55%.
Conclusion : The present study indicated the area at risk of TB is in areas with high employment rate and household income,
which are specific characteristics of an urban area. Therefore, in urban areas that are vulnerable to TB transmission, a
development of specific TB surveillance and prevention and control programs is need.
Keywords : Spatial autoregressive model Socio-economic Ecological study
