Abstract
Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a sub-discipline that blends spatial geographic data and its weighting, to transform them into a decision map. It is for the most part used in land suitability, epidemiological risk area assessment, and environmental studies.
The scope of the study was to describe how MCDA has been used in an environmental context in the last five years. The research questions of the study are: (i) what are the most used MCDA methods in the environmental context? (ii) what kind of criteria are used to create maps? (iii) what are the most used MCDA methods based on the available criteria?
We conducted a rapid literature review, which followed the Cochrane guidance. The methodology included five steps: (i) elaboration of the research question; (ii) identification of peer-reviewed articles published from January 1st, 2018, to March 6th, 2023; (iii) definition of criteria for the inclusion and analysis; (iv) charting of the information obtained; (v) summarizing and reporting the results.
The rapid review search identified 1364 articles. After duplicate elimination, 1362 abstracts were screened for relevance and pertinence. 91 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Finally, 21 articles were included in the review. The articles concern communicable diseases (13), natural disasters (4), vectors (2), and environment (2). The most used MCDA methods in the articles are the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), weighted linear combination (WLC), and fuzzy logic (FL). Eight articles use more than one method to create maps. The criteria used to create maps were divided into eight sectors: human, animal, animal reservoir, vector, ecological, physical, climate, and socioeconomic. The types of criteria used are human population, animal, and vector density; animal reservoir density and distribution; landcover and NDVI; distance and characteristics of water/soil; temperature, humidity, rainfall; knowledge, and Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP).
AHP is the most used method when criteria from all eight groups are present, often in combination with FL and/or WLC. The data are collected with satellite, ground sensors, interviews, or field observations but they may also be density or socio-economic related. AHP is primarily used for satellite and density data, WLC just for density data, and FL for density data as well as for data collected with satellite, ground sensors, and field observations. Socio-economic data and the ones collected with interviews are not widely used. The most used methods for sensitivity analysis are enumeration and One-at-a-time. For validation, the most used method is field validation.
Identifying the most used MCDAs and the types of data required will allow us to use MCDAs properly. This method will help identify the drivers that most lead to zoonotic outbreaks to support planning, decision-making, and prioritizing areas for targeted prevention interventions.