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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2002 Nov 1;93(Suppl 2):S15–S20. doi: 10.1007/BF03403613

Embedding Child Health Within a Framework of Regional Health

Population Health Status and Sociodemographic Indicators

Patricia J Martens 12,✉, Norman Frohlich 22, K C Carriere 32, Shelley Derksen 12, Marni Brownell 12
PMCID: PMC6979937  PMID: 12580385

Abstract

Objective

The description of regional variation in children’s health requires regional population-based context. But what is the best way to measure the health of a region’s population?

Methods

The use of two indicators is described - one a health status measure and the other a measure of socioeconomic wellbeing. It is well known that the population’s premature mortality rate (PMR), the age/sex-adjusted rate of death before age 75 years, is highly related to overall health status of an area’s residents. Socioeconomic characteristics of an area’s residents are also indicative (and likely causative) of health status differences.

Results

The Socioeconomic Factor Index (SEFI) was developed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, using a Principal Components Analysis of census data. PMR and SEFI are highly correlated (Spearman’s correlation coefficient r=0.85, p<0.0001).

Conclusion

PMR can be used as a surrogate measure for both the health status and socioeconomic well-being of regional populations in Manitoba.

Footnotes

The full report “Assessing the Health of Children in Manitoba: A Population-Based Study” on which this article is based is available from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy at the above address or online at: https://doi.org/www.umanitoba.ca/centres/mchp/reports.htm

Sources of support: This work was supported as part of a project on child health in Manitoba, one of several projects undertaken each year by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy under contract to Manitoba Health. The results and conclusions are those of the authors and no official endorsement by Manitoba Health was intended or should be inferred. Dr. Brownell was also supported by a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Dr. Martens was supported by a Community Alliances for Health Research Program grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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