| Summary: | Objective: To highlight the use of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in geographical
information system that incorporates environmental indices to generate dengue risk zonation
area.
Methods: The medical database considered for the study was referenced to the environmental
data layers. Factors related to the risk of dengue fever (DF) were selected throughout previous
research and were arranged in a hierarchical structure. The relative weights of factors were
calculated, which were within acceptable range with the consistency ratio being less than 0.1.
The outcomes from AHP based DF risk zonation area produced useful information on different
levels of risks.
Results: As a result, factor weights used in AHP were evaluated and found to be acceptable as
the consistency ratio of 0.05, which was < 0.1. The most influential factors were found to be
housing types, population density, land-use and elevation. Findings from this study provided
valuable insights that could potentially enhance public health initiatives. The geographical
information system and spatial analytical method could be applied to augment surveillance
strategies of DF and other communicable diseases in an effort to promote actions of prevention
and control. The disease surveillance data obtained could be integrated with environmental
database in a synergistic way, which will in turn provide additional input towards the
development of epidemic forecasting models.
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