Mustard C A, Frohlich N
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Med Care. 1995 Dec;33(12 Suppl):DS43-54. doi: 10.1097/00005650-199512001-00007.
To examine the relationship of a population's socioeconomic characteristics to its health status and use of health care services, a composite socioeconomic risk index was developed for the Population Health Information System. From a set of 23 socioeconomic indicators derived from public use census data, a summary index was formed from six indicators to generate profiles for the eight health regions of the province. Regional scores were plotted against an index of health status measures and against measures of health care utilization. Strong regional variations were found in all of these measures, and the socioeconomic risk index explained 87% to 92% of the differences in health status and acute hospitalizations. Moreover, regions with the worst health status on our indicators were found to be among the highest consumers of health services. The socioeconomic risk index appears to be a powerful tool in clarifying which benefits in improved health status might accrue from changing the underlying inequities in amenable socioeconomic risk factors, rather than simply increasing services to regions of low health status.
为研究某一人群的社会经济特征与其健康状况及医疗服务利用之间的关系，为人口健康信息系统制定了一个综合社会经济风险指数。从一组源自公开使用的人口普查数据的23个社会经济指标中，选取六个指标形成一个汇总指数，以生成该省八个健康区域的概况。将区域得分与健康状况衡量指标以及医疗服务利用指标进行对比绘制。在所有这些指标中均发现了显著的区域差异，社会经济风险指数解释了健康状况和急性住院差异的87%至92%。此外，在我们的指标中健康状况最差的区域被发现是医疗服务的最高消费者之一。社会经济风险指数似乎是一个强有力的工具，可用于阐明通过改变可改善的社会经济风险因素中的潜在不平等状况，而非仅仅向健康状况较差的区域增加服务，可能会在改善健康状况方面带来哪些益处。
