Table 1.
The use of deprivation indices in perinatal epidemiology; 2000–2006 literature review
| Domain | Variable used | Author, year (and rationale for chosen variables) |
|---|---|---|
| Education | % adults with < HS | Ahern et al., 200377 (variable choice based on racial segregation, to approximate individual SES); Krieger et al., 200342 (variable choice based on theory, prior empirical research); Pearl et al., 200124 (no rational given for chosen variables); Pickett et al., 200278 (variables chosen to estimate neighborhood SES, prior associations) |
| % with high school or college graduate | English et al., 200379 (variable choice based on study hypotheses) | |
| % college graduate adults | English et al., 2003 | |
| % adults > college | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Employment | % unemployed males | Ahern et al., 2003; Pearl et al., 2003; Pickett et al., 2002 |
| % unemployed | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| >10% unemployment | Ponce et al., 200580 (variables chosen based on prior associations) | |
| <10% unemployment | Ponce et al., 2005 | |
| Housing | % owner-occupied units | Kaufman et al., 200381 (no rationale offered for variables chosen) |
| Median house/unit value | Kaufman et al., 2003 | |
| % owner occupied homes > $300,000 | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| % homes with > 1 person/room | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| % vacant homes | Reagan and Salsberry, 200540 (rationale offered for ‘poverty’ variable only) | |
| Occupation | % persons in ‘working class’ occupation82 | Ahern et al., 2003; Krieger et al., 2003; Pickett et al., 2002 |
| % white collar occupation | English et al., 2003 | |
| % blue collar occupation | English et al., 2003 | |
| % professional occupations | Reagan and Salsberry, 2005 | |
| Poverty | % individuals at/below poverty line | Ahern et al., 2003; Krieger et al., 2003; Pickett et al., 2002; Rauh et al., 200123 (variable chosen to represent community poverty) |
| % families at/below poverty line | Morenoff, 200383 (variable choice based on theoretical framework guiding larger study); Pearl, 2001 | |
| % HH below at/poverty line | Ahern et al., 2003; Rich-Edwards et al., 200384 (variable chosen as proxy for individual-level poverty) | |
| >40% HH at/below poverty line | Jaffe and Perloff, 200385 (variable choice based on theory, racial minority status) | |
| <20% families at/below poverty line | Ponce et al., 2005 | |
| Tract poverty rate | Reagan and Salsberry, 2005 (chose poverty rate because most widely used variable) | |
| >15% families on public assistance | Ponce et al., 2005 | |
| <15% families on public assistance | Ponce et al., 2005 | |
| % female headed HH w/ dependents | Kaufman et al., 2003; Reagan and Salsberry, 2005 | |
| Median income | Ahern et al., 2003 | |
| Median HH income | Kaufman et al., 2003; Krieger et al., 2003; Pickett et al., 2002 | |
| <$8,000 annual HH income | Jaffe and Perloff, 2003 | |
| $8,000–$11,000 annual HH income | Jaffe and Perloff, 2003 | |
| % HH income < $15,000/year | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| % HH income > $150,000/year | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Racial composition | % black males | Ahern et al., 2003 |
| % black | Pickett et al., 2002 | |
| % Hispanic | English et al., 2003; Morenoff, 2003 | |
| % NH black | English et al., 2003; Morenoff, 2003 | |
| % NH white | English et al., 2003 | |
| >60% NH black | Jaffe and Perloff, 2003 | |
| >60% Hispanic | Jaffe and Perloff, 2003 | |
| Residential stability | Consistently measured with % living in same house since 1995 and one other variable, but other variable varies | English et al., 2003 |
| Residential stability (two variables) | Morenoff, 2003 | |
| Other variables | Growth: total population | English et al., 2003 |
| Marital status (% married) | English et al., 2003 | |
| Marital status (% single) | English et al., 2003 | |
| Gini coefficient | Krieger et al., 2003; Reagan and Salsberry, 2005 | |
| Other indices | Neighborhood disadvantage (three variables) | Buka et al., 200365 (variables based on prior associations, social capital, birth weight) |
| Worth (three variables) | English et al., 2003 | |
| Affluence (three variables) | English et al., 2003 | |
| Education index (two variables) | Kirby et al., 200186 (variable choice based on literature review and available census data) | |
| Employment index (five variables) | Kirby et al., 2001 | |
| Housing index (two variables) | Kirby et al., 2001 | |
| Income/poverty index (four variables) | Kirby et al., 2001 | |
| Female marital status (three variables) | Kirby et al., 2001 | |
| Townsend (U.K.; four variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Carstairs (U.K.; four variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Local economic resources (three variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Socioeconomic position 1 (three variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Socioeconomic position 2 (three variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Factor 1 (three variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Factor 2 (three variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| SEP index (six variables) | Krieger et al., 2003 | |
| Socioeconomic factor index (Canadian) | Martens et al., 200487 |
SES Socioeconomic status, SEP socioeconomic position, HH household, HS high school, NH non-Hispanic.