Measuring socioeconomic and geographic deprivation to healthcare: development of a Missouri Deprivation Index

Abstract

This study reviews the development and use of socioeconomic deprivation indices in health-related research and the variables and methods used in the construction of some of those indices. Relevant literature is summarized and the most significant methodological contributions to the topic are further described. Those methods are then closely adapted and used to create a block group level composite index of socioeconomic deprivation for the state of Missouri. In addition to the construction of the Missouri Deprivation Index (MDI), spatial analyses of access to emergency healthcare services in Missouri are performed, access scores for each block group in Missouri are generated and estimates of the population residing in those access areas are calculated. The access component is then incorporated into the deprivation index and used to explore the extent to which access may influence or be associated with measures of deprivation. This research will contribute to the literature by providing a background and a framework for the use of socioeconomic deprivation indices as potential explanatory variables in future research.