Abstract: Spatial data analysis (SDA) technology mostly is concerned with data, which are not independent spatially and temporally, and the spatial correlation and spatia l association among the studied objects are of interest Spatial correlation mo stly refers to the relation among the objects themselves while the spatial assoc iation considers the neighborhood effects between the objects After the cor relation and association among objects with spatial attribution are analyzed wit h SDA technology, spatial pattern will be perceived and explained Then we can predict and coordinate the spatial processes further In public health study area, most data acquired have spatial and temporal attrib utions, so advanced technology are needed to analysis the pattern of diseases di stribution, this is a preliminary and important step to identify the risk factor s in environment to the diseases With the understanding of the patterns and risk factors, the prevention and intervening counter measures to the disease would b e easily acquired In this paper, the author gave a review on application of SD A technology in public health, including the pattern identification, hotspots de tection, environmental risk factors identification, and public health resourc e distribution as wellMoreover, the developments of the software which are use ful to public health spatial analysis were discussed also Though the progress of SDA technology applied into public health meets some encu mbrance, there are more advantages to public health with spatial analysis And with the fast developments of information technology and geographical informatio n system software’s maturation in applications in many fields, spatial data will be enriched and give potential requirement of SDA technology including public h ealth study.

Key words: public health, spatial data analysis