[Experimentation with a socioeconomic deprivation index in Basilicata]

Deprivation measures have become important tools, in microarea and small area studies, both for examining variations in health and health care, and for planning services and allocating resources. To value the level of municipal deprivation in Basilicata (Southern Italy), 1991 Census data were used. As a first analytic step, variables selected as deprivation measures were calculated. "Elderly" variable was included at the first step since it was considered as an indicator of social burden and need. As a second analytic step, factorial analysis was performed in order to help in selecting the most valuable ones. The final choice led to five variables (elderly, low education, unemployment, no indoor bathroom, lone parent with children) which were combined in an Index of Deprived Area (IAS). The IAS showed a variation between -5.4 and 7.4. To validate the IAS, the municipal level of income was used: the index increased with decreasing income (r = -0.5). Municipalities were then ranked according to their IAS (decreasing) and divided into five deprivation categories, with about equal population number in each group. After excluding the "elderly" indicator, the ranking order showed irrelevant changes (modified IAS). Overall, the IAS seemed to well describe the difference among Municipalities, particularly between the first quintile (54 small towns with high prevalence of old people) and the last group (the urban area of the region). The developed tool and the obtained results may be used by administrators and health/social workers and professionals in charge of the Regional Epidemiological Observatory to improve the selection of health and social indicators for Local Health Authorities and Municipalities.