I am seeking to provide guidance for Public Health professionals on
measuring inequalities in health.
The following paper has been cited as a method reference in various
literature on inequalities in health:
Brown M, Using Gini-style indices to evaluate the spatial patterns of
health practitioners; theoretical considerations and an application
based on the Alberta data. Social Science and Medicine
1994;38(9):1243-1256.
I have misgivings about the theoretical basis of this paper. My initial
assessment is that it is preferable to make a clear definition of the
population health variable of interest and then construct bootstrap
confidence limits for the conventional (relative mean difference) Gini
coefficient for a relevant division of observations of this variable.
Feedback from anyone who has considered Brown's paper would be much
appreciated.
Iain Buchan
Eastern Public Health Observatory
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