BEST-COST held its first consensus meeting with stakeholders on the socioeconomic impacts of environmental stressors. This consensus meeting was the first of three such meetings planned to ensure stakeholder co-creation of the BEST-COST methodological protocols. This meeting brought together experts with experience developing deprivation indices and/or composite measures to discuss the methodological framework for the development of a Multiple Deprivation Index (MDI) as part of BEST-COST’s work.
Key discussion points focused on:
- Methods proposed for creating the composite score and decile ranks from the five indicators.
- Benefits and limitations of using weighted indicators versus equal weighting, and the most appropriate weighting method for the BEST-COST MDI.
- Methods for assessing the robustness and sensitivity of the MDI, and for its validity/reliability.
- Potential limitations in using the MDI developed by BEST-COST.
Following the meeting, BEST-COST will finalise its methodological proposal for developing the MDI, based on the exchange with experts. It will then develop and test the BEST-COST MDI within the five case study countries (Belgium, Estonia, France, Norway and Portugal). BEST-COST will utilise the MDI as part of the final methodological framework for measuring socioeconomic inequalities in the health burden associated with air and noise pollution.
For more information, please contact best-cost@eurohealthnet.eu
