• Peng Li, Miao Ge, Congxia Wang, Jinwei He, Shaofang Yang, Jing Jing, and Dezhi Wei.
• Institute of Health Geography, School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China; National Demonstration Center for Experimental Geography Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
• J Natl Med Assoc. 2018 Aug 1; 110 (4): 334-342.

ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the spatial characteristics of the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) reference value in healthy Chinese adults, and its relationship to geographical location.MethodsA total of 9396 AFP reference values were collected from patients in 96 administrative units. A correlation analysis and support vector machine (SVM) were employed to extract dependent geographical factors and predict the reference values in the entire country, respectively. A geostatistics analysis was developed to reveal the spatial characteristics of the value.ResultsUnder the long-term influence of geographical environment, AFP reference values show spatial autocorrelation and regional variation. The values are higher in western and northern areas than in eastern and southern areas of China.ConclusionsThe AFP reference values show regional differences, and this difference should be considered in clinical practice.Copyright © 2017 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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