Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community survey
Socioeconomic indexes are widely used in public health to facilitate neighborhood-scale analyses. Although they are calculated with high levels of precision, they are rarely reported with accompanying measures of uncertainty (e.g., 90% confidence intervals). Here we use the variance replicate tables...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-06-01
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| Series: | SSM: Population Health |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235282732200057X |
| _version_ | 1828336062641995776 |
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| author | Francis P. Boscoe Bian Liu Jordana Lafantasie Li Niu Furrina F. Lee |
| author_facet | Francis P. Boscoe Bian Liu Jordana Lafantasie Li Niu Furrina F. Lee |
| author_sort | Francis P. Boscoe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Socioeconomic indexes are widely used in public health to facilitate neighborhood-scale analyses. Although they are calculated with high levels of precision, they are rarely reported with accompanying measures of uncertainty (e.g., 90% confidence intervals). Here we use the variance replicate tables that accompany the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey to report confidence intervals around the Yost Index, a socioeconomic index comprising seven variables that is frequently used in cancer surveillance. The Yost Index is reported as a percentile score from 1 (most affluent) to 100 (most deprived). We find that the average uncertainty for a census tract in the United States is plus or minus 8 percentiles, with the uncertainty a function of the value of the index itself. Scores at the extremes of the distribution are more precise and scores near the center are less precise. Less-affluent tracts have greater uncertainty than corresponding more-affluent tracts. Fewer than 50 census tracts of 72,793 nationally have unusual distributions of socioeconomic conditions that render the index uninformative. We demonstrate that the uncertainty in a census-based socioeconomic index is calculable and can be incorporated into any analysis using such an index. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:54:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-80221284e96648db87e81679610a6baf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-8273 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:54:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM: Population Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-80221284e96648db87e81679610a6baf2022-12-22T02:28:17ZengElsevierSSM: Population Health2352-82732022-06-0118101078Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community surveyFrancis P. Boscoe0Bian Liu1Jordana Lafantasie2Li Niu3Furrina F. Lee4Pumphandle, LLC, Camden, ME, USA; New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA; Corresponding author. Pumphandle, LLC, Camden, ME, USA.Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USASchool of Public Health, University at Albany, Rensselaer, NY, USADepartment of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USANew York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USASocioeconomic indexes are widely used in public health to facilitate neighborhood-scale analyses. Although they are calculated with high levels of precision, they are rarely reported with accompanying measures of uncertainty (e.g., 90% confidence intervals). Here we use the variance replicate tables that accompany the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey to report confidence intervals around the Yost Index, a socioeconomic index comprising seven variables that is frequently used in cancer surveillance. The Yost Index is reported as a percentile score from 1 (most affluent) to 100 (most deprived). We find that the average uncertainty for a census tract in the United States is plus or minus 8 percentiles, with the uncertainty a function of the value of the index itself. Scores at the extremes of the distribution are more precise and scores near the center are less precise. Less-affluent tracts have greater uncertainty than corresponding more-affluent tracts. Fewer than 50 census tracts of 72,793 nationally have unusual distributions of socioeconomic conditions that render the index uninformative. We demonstrate that the uncertainty in a census-based socioeconomic index is calculable and can be incorporated into any analysis using such an index.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235282732200057X |
| spellingShingle | Francis P. Boscoe Bian Liu Jordana Lafantasie Li Niu Furrina F. Lee Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community survey SSM: Population Health |
| title | Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community survey |
| title_full | Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community survey |
| title_fullStr | Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community survey |
| title_short | Estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the American community survey |
| title_sort | estimating uncertainty in a socioeconomic index derived from the american community survey |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235282732200057X |
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