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. 2018 Jun 26;18(1):791.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5723-z.

Development of two socioeconomic indices for Saudi Arabia

Reem S AlOmar  1 , Roger C Parslow  2 , Graham R Law  3
Affiliations

Development of two socioeconomic indices for Saudi Arabia

Reem S AlOmar et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Health and socioeconomic status (SES) are linked in studies worldwide. Measures of SES exist for many countries, however not for Saudi Arabia (SA). We describe two indices of area-based SES for SA.

Methods: Routine census data has been used to construct two indices of SES at the geographically-delimited administrative region of Governorates in SA (n = 118). The data used included indicators of educational status, employment status, car and material ownership. A continuous measure of SES was constructed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a categorical measure of SES using latent class analysis (LCA). Both indices were mapped by Governorates.

Results: The EFA identified three factors: The first explained 51.58% of the common variance within the interrelated factors, the second 15.14%, and the third 14.26%. These proportions were used in the formulation of the standard index. The scores were fixed to range from 100 for the affluent Governorate and 0 for the deprived. The LCA found a 4 class model as the best model fit. Class 1 was termed "affluent" and included 11.01% of Governorates, class 2 "upper middle class" (44.91%), class 3 "lower middle class" (33.05%) and class 4 "deprived" (11.01%). The populated urbanised Governorates were found to be the most affluent whereas the smaller rural Governorates were the most deprived.

Conclusion: This is the first description of measures of SES in SA at a geographical level. Two measures have been successfully constructed and mapped. The maps show similar patterns suggesting validity. Both indices support the common perception of SES in SA.

Keywords: Deprivation; Exploratory factor analysis; Latent class analysis; Saudi Arabia; Socioeconomic status.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from The Faculty of Medicine and Health Research Ethics Committee at The University of Leeds.

Consent for publication

Not-applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map of Saudi Arabia illustrating the boundaries of the Governorates and their ranking from the most affluent to the most deprived as demonstrated by the standardised index of socioeconomic status. *The Empty Quarter desert is included in the border of the Ahsa Governorate, only 18% of this Governorate is inhabited
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Map of Saudi Arabia illustrating the boundaries of the Governorates and their socioeconomic classes as demonstrated by the classes of socioeconomic status. *The Empty Quarter desert is included in the border of the Ahsa Governorate, only 18% of this Governorate is inhabited
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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