The Application of Geographical Information System in Explaining Spatial Distribution of Low Birth Weight; a Case Study in North of Iran

Background: geographical information system is a new toolin environmental epidemiology that makes the opportunity ofvisualization and analysis of spatial data. the aim of this studywas to determine the geographi c variation of low birth weightusing geographic information system in order to evaluate theefficacy of primary health care and health information system.methods: low birth weight records in rural areas of rashtdistrict (north of iran) were collected from the records ofhealth care centers and health houses. electronic map of therasht district was collected from national cartographic center.health information was collected from health surveillancedata in each village. the three layers of data were analyzedusing arcview program.results: the prevalence of low birth weight was 0.049. usingkernel smoothing method, three major and two minor hotspots were identified within rasht district, mostly in northernpart. existence of health houses was found to be statisticallysignificant in explaining low birth weight risk.conclusion: this research examined geographic variation oflbw in rasht district and found hot spot places. existing ofhealth house was associated with higher risk of low birth weight.