Cargando…

Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper

Much has been written about the measurement of socio-economic position (SEP) in high-income countries (HIC). Less has been written for an epidemiology, health systems and public health audience about the measurement of SEP in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The social stratification process...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Howe, Laura D, Galobardes, Bruna, Matijasevich, Alicia, Gordon, David, Johnston, Deborah, Onwujekwe, Obinna, Patel, Rita, Webb, Elizabeth A, Lawlor, Debbie A, Hargreaves, James R
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3396323/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22438428
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dys037
_version_ 1782238099351273472
author Howe, Laura D
Galobardes, Bruna
Matijasevich, Alicia
Gordon, David
Johnston, Deborah
Onwujekwe, Obinna
Patel, Rita
Webb, Elizabeth A
Lawlor, Debbie A
Hargreaves, James R
author_facet Howe, Laura D
Galobardes, Bruna
Matijasevich, Alicia
Gordon, David
Johnston, Deborah
Onwujekwe, Obinna
Patel, Rita
Webb, Elizabeth A
Lawlor, Debbie A
Hargreaves, James R
author_sort Howe, Laura D
collection PubMed
description Much has been written about the measurement of socio-economic position (SEP) in high-income countries (HIC). Less has been written for an epidemiology, health systems and public health audience about the measurement of SEP in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The social stratification processes in many LMIC—and therefore the appropriate measurement tools—differ considerably from those in HIC. Many measures of SEP have been utilized in epidemiological studies; the aspects of SEP captured by these measures and the pathways through which they may affect health are likely to be slightly different but overlapping. No single measure of SEP will be ideal for all studies and contexts; the strengths and limitations of a given indicator are likely to vary according to the specific research question. Understanding the general properties of different indicators, however, is essential for all those involved in the design or interpretation of epidemiological studies. In this article, we describe the measures of SEP used in LMIC. We concentrate on measures of individual or household-level SEP rather than area-based or ecological measures such as gross domestic product. We describe each indicator in terms of its theoretical basis, interpretation, measurement, strengths and limitations. We also provide brief comparisons between LMIC and HIC for each measure.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3396323
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2012
publisher Oxford University Press
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-33963232012-07-13 Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper Howe, Laura D Galobardes, Bruna Matijasevich, Alicia Gordon, David Johnston, Deborah Onwujekwe, Obinna Patel, Rita Webb, Elizabeth A Lawlor, Debbie A Hargreaves, James R Int J Epidemiol Methods of Measurement Much has been written about the measurement of socio-economic position (SEP) in high-income countries (HIC). Less has been written for an epidemiology, health systems and public health audience about the measurement of SEP in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The social stratification processes in many LMIC—and therefore the appropriate measurement tools—differ considerably from those in HIC. Many measures of SEP have been utilized in epidemiological studies; the aspects of SEP captured by these measures and the pathways through which they may affect health are likely to be slightly different but overlapping. No single measure of SEP will be ideal for all studies and contexts; the strengths and limitations of a given indicator are likely to vary according to the specific research question. Understanding the general properties of different indicators, however, is essential for all those involved in the design or interpretation of epidemiological studies. In this article, we describe the measures of SEP used in LMIC. We concentrate on measures of individual or household-level SEP rather than area-based or ecological measures such as gross domestic product. We describe each indicator in terms of its theoretical basis, interpretation, measurement, strengths and limitations. We also provide brief comparisons between LMIC and HIC for each measure. Oxford University Press 2012-06 2012-03-21 /pmc/articles/PMC3396323/ /pubmed/22438428 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dys037 Text en Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2012; all rights reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Methods of Measurement
Howe, Laura D
Galobardes, Bruna
Matijasevich, Alicia
Gordon, David
Johnston, Deborah
Onwujekwe, Obinna
Patel, Rita
Webb, Elizabeth A
Lawlor, Debbie A
Hargreaves, James R
Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper
title Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper
title_full Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper
title_fullStr Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper
title_full_unstemmed Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper
title_short Measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper
title_sort measuring socio-economic position for epidemiological studies in low- and middle-income countries: a methods of measurement in epidemiology paper
topic Methods of Measurement
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3396323/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22438428
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dys037
work_keys_str_mv AT howelaurad measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT galobardesbruna measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT matijasevichalicia measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT gordondavid measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT johnstondeborah measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT onwujekweobinna measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT patelrita measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT webbelizabetha measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT lawlordebbiea measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper
AT hargreavesjamesr measuringsocioeconomicpositionforepidemiologicalstudiesinlowandmiddleincomecountriesamethodsofmeasurementinepidemiologypaper