Developing and Validating an Individual-Level Deprivation Index for Children's Health in France

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Social Determinants of Health
• Health Equity

Background:

• Socioeconomic deprivation significantly contributes to health disparities in children.
• Addressing these inequalities requires tools to identify and quantify deprivation for targeted interventions.
• Current clinical practice and public health initiatives need better methods to assess child deprivation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a pediatric index for measuring individual-level deprivation.
• To create a tool applicable in both clinical settings and public health strategies.
• To enhance appropriate access to care for deprived children.

Main Methods:

• The French Individual Child Deprivation Index (FrenChILD-Index) was developed through item generation, reduction, derivation, and validation phases.
• A cross-sectional study involving 986 children in two emergency departments was conducted for index derivation and validation.
• Expert evaluation and blinded assessments were used to establish thresholds for moderate and severe deprivation levels.

Main Results:

• The final 12-item FrenChILD-Index demonstrated high sensitivity for identifying moderate (96.0%) and severe (96.3%) deprivation.
• Specificities for moderate and severe deprivation were 68.3% and 91.1%, respectively.
• The index successfully differentiated between levels of deprivation requiring different care intensities.

Conclusions:

• The FrenChILD-Index is the first validated pediatric individual-level deprivation index in Europe.
• This tool empowers clinicians to address social determinants of health directly within patient care.
• Implementation of the FrenChILD-Index supports public health goals for reducing child health inequalities.