Validating 8 Area-Based Measures of Social Risk for Predicting Health and Mortality

How well do area-based measures of social risk, compared with individual level socioeconomic measures, predict health outcomes and mortality, overall, and by race, ethnicity, rurality, age, and gender?This cross-sectional study including more than 2.8 million patients evaluated 8 area-based measures of social risk for health and found that the Area Deprivation Index was the most consistent predictor of health outcomes and mortality across different subpopulations compared with other area- and individual-level social risk measures.Area-based measures of social risk consistently capture meaningful aspects of health-related social risk across subpopulations, often outperforming individual socioeconomic measures, thus can be considered for broader policy applications, such as adjusting health care payments to meet social needs.

Corresponding Author: David H. Rehkopf, ScD, 1701 Page Mill Rd, Room 229, Palo Alto, CA 94304 (drehkopf@stanford.edu).

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