Term: Area-Based Socio-economic Measure (ABSM)
Last Updated: 2015-03-17
An Area-Based Socio-economic Measure (ABSM) is a socio-economic measure based on economic and/or social data from the Canadian Census for a specific geographic area (e.g.: dissemination area (DA)). Four specific ABSMs have been developed by MCHP, including: average household income, the material deprivation and social deprivation indices, and the Socioeconomic Factor Index - version 2 (SEFI-2). Using these measures, the degree of association between the ABSMs and specific health measures (e.g.: premature mortality rate (PMR), potential years of life lost (PYLL), life expectancy and self-rated health) can be evaluated.