Spatiotemporal characteristics of HIV/AIDS in Guangdong province, 2007-2017

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics and spatial and temporal distribution of HIV/AIDS in Guangdong province, so as to provide scientific evidence for the prevention and control of AIDS. Methods Newly reported HIV/AIDS data from 2007 to 2017 in Guangdong were collected from HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Information Management System. OpenGeoDa 1.8 software was used for autocorrelation analysis, SaTScan 9.4 software was used for statistical analysis of spatial scanning, and finally geographic information system was used for visualization with Arcgis 10.4 software. Results 76 476 HIV/AIDS cases were totally reported in Guangdong from 2007 to 2017, the scope of spatial distribution on HIV/AIDS expanded annually and concentrated in certain areas. Global Moran's I index was between 0.25 and 0.34 annually(P<0.05). Spatial and temporal scan analysis revealed that three categories including Shenzhen city (six counties), Yangjiang city and Luoding city(six counties), Guangzhou city, Foshan city, Dongguan city, Jiangmen city and Zhongshan city(nineteen counties) were the main spatial and temporal cluster in area in 2007-2017(P<0.05). Conclusions The "high-high" clustering areas gradually covered most counties in Pearl River Delta(PRD), and Yangjiang and its surrounding areas gradually withdrew from the "high-high" clustering areas, suggesting that the PRD region was the key area for prevention and control of AIDS in Guangdong province in recent years.