Area based measures of social and economic circumstances: cause specific mortality patterns depend on the choice of index: Table 1

Indices of deprivation based upon the characteristics of areas of residence are widely used in epidemiology and public health, and have a number of possible applications. Firstly, they may be used when data describing a person's socioeconomic circumstances have not been, or cannot be, collected directly. 1 Secondly, they may inform the distribution of health service resources, for primary care, community health services and hospital services. 2 Thirdly, in ecological studies examining the eVects of local environmental conditions on health they allow investigators to control for possible socioeconomic confounding. 3 Lastly, they can be used when the main analytic interest lies in the eVects of characteristics of place of residence on health.