Methodological documents MSDI

Methodological documents

The following texts contain information and methodological details needed to understand and correctly use the different versions of the MSDI.

Gamache, P., Hamel D., and Blaser, C. 2019. The material and social deprivation index: a summary (to be published)

This document applies to all index versions and years from 1991 to 2016. It presents the construction of the deprivation index, its composition, the geographical level for the different versions and suggests how to combine the quintiles from the material and the social dimensions of the index. It also explains some methodological particularities of the 2011 index based on the National Household Survey (NHS) rather than on the Census. It presents the products offered with the MSDI while a final section contains advice on the use of the index. Finally, a reference list with papers in English and in French reports the main studies with the MSDI published by the team which developed the index in order to illustrate the possible uses and interpretation of the index of deprivation. 

Gamache, P. and Hamel, D. 2017. The Challenges of Updating the Deprivation Index with Data from the 2011 Census and the National Household Survey (NHS) 

In this document, the authors present the challenges associated with the update of the Material and Social Deprivation index using data from the National Household Survey (NHS) in 2011. They explain the potential non-response bias which could lead to imprecise results. Four versions of the 2011 index were tested in order to compare their quality and to identify the most comparable and precise version for longitudinal analyses. The version without any correction appeared to yield the most similar results compared to the other 2011 versions and best continuity with earlier versions. The authors conclude that the index of deprivation remains a very good measure for social health inequality at the Canadian, provincial and regional level, particularly when individual socioeconomic information is missing in administrative databases.

Pampalon, R., Gamache, P. and Hamel, D. 2011. The Québec Index of Material and Social Deprivation: Methodological Follow-up, 1991 through 2006

The intent of this paper is to offer an overview of the index’ methodological components from 1991 to 2006. Not all index construction components are explored in minute detail—other publications have already done so. Instead, the authors cover only components that have been modified. They present their status at four points which coincide with index revisions. The components are: the basic area units, the socio-economic indicators that comprise the index, the way these indicators are combined, and the socio-economic profile associated with the index. The discussion is based on the Québec version of the index, although some geographic variations are noted. 

Specific details related to the 2011 and 2016 versions of the index are documented in « The material and social deprivation index: a summary» (to be published).

Pampalon, R., Hamel D. and Raymond G. 2004. Indice de défavorisation pour l’étude de la santé et du bien-être au Québec - Mise à jour 2001 (only available in French)

The authors describe the updated Québec deprivation index based on Census information from 2001 and compare it to previous (1996) Census data. They document the changes in the index construction such as the new geographical base unit (dissemination area - DA) and adjusted factors for inclusion and exclusion. The authors present the equivalence tables and the assignation procedure for the inclusion of the deprivation quintile in tables containing postal codes and test the method with two data bases in the health domain (i.e. mortality and births). In conclusion, they discuss the consequences of the update and the next steps and make available a list of tools for the use of the 2001 deprivation index.