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Abstract:
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Quantitative estimates of the magnitude, direction, and rate of change of health inequalities play a crucial role in creating and assessing policies aimed at eliminating the disproportionate burden of disease in disadvantaged populations. Simple indices work well when analyzing a few groups. Summary health disparities measures are better for evaluating and monitoring disparities across multiple groups. Yet summary measures of disparities are complex and different summary measures -especially relative and absolute measures- may yield different, even contradictory results.
To improve the science of disparities measures, NCI sponsored the Health Disparities Calculator (HD*Calc). This statistical software is designed to calculate eleven 11 summary measures, allowing users to graphically explore underlying trends in data. HD*Calc allows users to compare tables and graphs from the different measures to more fully understand their data and select an appropriate suite of measures for presentation or publication. Intended to arouse scientific curiosity, HD*Calc enables users to more fully and easily interpret and summarize data by measuring health disparities with multiple approaches.
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