title: Household expenditures as a measure of socioeconomic status among Iraqis displaced in Jordan and Syria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Various measures are used to represent socioeconomic status (SES) in health research, including income. However, reliability of income data can be low. Household expenditures are an accepted proxy for income as a more reliable measure but have been studied little in refugee populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Health and SES measures from cross-sectional surveys of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria were analyzed using logistic regression to assess the interchangeability of household income and expenditures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In Jordan, odds ratios in the regression models including income quartiles were frequently similar to odds ratios found in the models including expenditure quartiles, indicating interchangeability. In Syria, fewer similarities were observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides some evidence that household expenditures may be used interchangeably with household income for some populations, allowing for the potential collection and use of data related to expenditures as a measure of SES, similar in importance to that of income.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. jrcope9@gmail.com
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Cope
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doocy
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frattaroli
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McGready
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics*; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007493:Iraq / Q000208:ethnology; D007597:Jordan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012036:Refugees / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013593:Syria / Q000453:epidemiology