[Analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis patients in Shaanxi Province from 2018 to 2024].

This study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) patients in Shaanxi Province from 2018 to 2024. A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data on 3 335 cases of RR-TB patients registered from 2018 to 2024 in Shaanxi Province, China, from the tuberculosis sub-system of the China Disease Control and Prevention Information System. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0 software. ArcGIS 10.8 software was used to build the spatial distribution map of the annual reported incidence rate of RR-TB at the county (district, city) level, and construct the global spatial self-correlation and hotspot analysis on the data of RR-TB patients in Shaanxi Province, so as to explore the spatial aggregation of the disease. The results showed that there were significant differences in the reported incidence of RR-TB patients in Shaanxi Province among the years (χ2=177.04, P<0.001). The proportion of treatment-naive patients (71.33%) was higher than that of retreatment patients (28.67%, χ2=607.18, P<0.001). The spatial distribution showed that there were high incidence areas and spatial aggregation characteristics of RR-PTB patients in Shaanxi Province from 2018 to 2024. Spatial self-correlation analysis showed that the spatial clustering of RR-TB reported incidence in 2018, 2022, and 2024 was significant (P<0.05). The average annual reported incidence local hotspot analysis showed that there were 9 hotspot areas, including 7 positive hotspot areas of Hanbin County, Pingli County, Ziyang County, Langao County, Xunyang City, Zhenping County District of Ankang City, and Zhenba County of Hanzhong City, and 2 negative hotspot areas of Zhouzhi County and Yangling District of Xi'an City. The analysis of the local hotspot year by year showed that the positive hotspot area increased from 7 in 2018 to 11 in 2022, and the agglomeration range showed an expanding trend year by year, mainly concentrated in some counties of Hanzhong City and Ankang City, while the negative hotspot area had no obvious concentration trend. In summary, the incidence of RR-TB in Shaanxi Province shows obvious spatial aggregation and regional distribution differences. The areas with higher incidence are mainly concentrated in southern Shaanxi, and the range of the positive hotspot area shows an expanding trend year by year.