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WITHDRAWN - Leveraging Geographic Data to Act on Social Determinants of Health (307867)
*Brian Goodness, IBM Watson HealthNicole Harlaar, IBM Watson Health
Veronica Hernandez, IBM Watson Health
William Kassler, IBM Watson Health
Frank Yoon, IBM Watson Health
Keywords: Social determinants, geographic deprivation, composite measures, health disparities, census data
Measuring social determinants of health (SDoH) is a fundamental exercise that strengthens society’s efforts to level health disparities. An individual’s experience based on social factors such as poverty can drive health outcomes. In administrative data, however, social needs go largely unmeasured. Geographic deprivation indices based on ecological variables are frequently applied as proxy measures, but these ecological inferences are highly susceptible to bias. It is thereby important to compare the validity of different indices for use in specific settings, for example, measuring access to preventive care for chronic disease management. This work describes the attributes of several SDoH composites based on ecological variables, namely the Area Deprivation Index (Health Innovation Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), the Social Vulnerability Index (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and the Community Need Index (Watson Health). The indicators composites are compared on their performance in risk adjustment and disparities analyses to better target policy and public health interventions that can increase the equity and fairness in health services delivery.