TY - JOUR
T1 - Household expenditures as a measure of socioeconomic status among Iraqis displaced in Jordan and Syria.
AU - Cope, James R.
AU - Doocy, Shannon
AU - Frattaroli, Shannon
AU - McGready, John
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Various measures are used to represent socioeconomic status (SES) in health research, including income. However, reliability of income data can be low. Household expenditures are an accepted proxy for income as a more reliable measure but have been studied little in refugee populations. Health and SES measures from cross-sectional surveys of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria were analyzed using logistic regression to assess the interchangeability of household income and expenditures. In Jordan, odds ratios in the regression models including income quartiles were frequently similar to odds ratios found in the models including expenditure quartiles, indicating interchangeability. In Syria, fewer similarities were observed. This study provides some evidence that household expenditures may be used interchangeably with household income for some populations, allowing for the potential collection and use of data related to expenditures as a measure of SES, similar in importance to that of income.
AB - Various measures are used to represent socioeconomic status (SES) in health research, including income. However, reliability of income data can be low. Household expenditures are an accepted proxy for income as a more reliable measure but have been studied little in refugee populations. Health and SES measures from cross-sectional surveys of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria were analyzed using logistic regression to assess the interchangeability of household income and expenditures. In Jordan, odds ratios in the regression models including income quartiles were frequently similar to odds ratios found in the models including expenditure quartiles, indicating interchangeability. In Syria, fewer similarities were observed. This study provides some evidence that household expenditures may be used interchangeably with household income for some populations, allowing for the potential collection and use of data related to expenditures as a measure of SES, similar in importance to that of income.
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U2 - 10.12927/whp.2013.23063
DO - 10.12927/whp.2013.23063
M3 - Article
C2 - 23135070
AN - SCOPUS:84873563060
SN - 1718-3340
VL - 14
SP - 19
EP - 30
JO - World health & population
JF - World health & population
IS - 1
ER -