Objectives: The aim was to provide an affordable method of computing socio-economic (SE) deprivation indices at the regional level, in order to reveal the specific aspects of the relationship between SE inequalities and health outcomes. The Umbria Region Socio-Health Index (USHI) was computed and compared with the Italian National Deprivation Index at the Umbria regional level (NDI-U).
Methods: The USHI was computed by applying factor analysis to census tract SE variables correlated with general mortality and validated through comparison with the NDI-U.
Results: Overall mortality presented linear positive trends in USHI, while trends in NDI-U proved non-linear or non-significant. Similar results were obtained with regard to specific causes of death according to deprivation groups, gender and age.
Conclusions: The USHI better describes a local population in terms of health-related SE status. Policy-makers could therefore adopt this method in order to obtain a better picture of SE-associated health conditions in regional populations and to target strategies for reducing health inequalities.
Keywords: Health care resources; Inequalities in health; Public health; Socio-economic indices; Socio-economic status.
©2019 Pacini Editore SRL, Pisa, Italy.