USE OF THE NOTTINGHAM-HEALTH-PROFILE TO TEST THE VALIDITY OF CENSUS VARIABLES TO PROXY THE NEED FOR HEALTH-CARE

Background Data on health or health service use are invariably used to test the validity of proxy measures of need, for use in resource allo cation formulae. Perceived health state is a good measure to use in th is respect, as it is closely linked to perceived need and the decision to consult health services. This being the case, a large community ba sed study was undertaken which collected data on perceived health, usi ng the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), with the aim of testing the va lidity of a variety of Census based measures as proxy measures of the need for health care. Method A postal questionnaire survey of 9565 peo ple living in the former South East Thames Regional Health Authority w as conducted and the relationship between their perceived health state and the socio-economic characteristics of their electoral ward of res idence analysed. Results A relatively low response rate (59 per cent) weakened any conclusions to be drawn from the results. However, signif icant correlations between perceived health and a variety of the Censu s based indicators were found. The highly skewed distribution of respo nses to the NHP statements made the results difficult to analyse and i nterpret. Conclusions Although the study gave an indication of those v ariables that might be incorporated into resource allocation formulae, the NHP is not a particularly efficient instrument to use in a commun ity setting. It is argued that the appropriateness of an approach to d etermining appropriate needs weights in allocation formulae, which att empts to find one indicator of all health care needs at the District H ealth Authority level, must be questioned.