TY - JOUR T1 - Is the wealth index a proxy for consumption expenditure? A systematic review JF - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health JO - J Epidemiol Community Health SP - 871 LP - 877 DO - 10.1136/jech.2009.088021 VL - 63 IS - 11 AU - L D Howe AU - J R Hargreaves AU - S Gabrysch AU - S R A Huttly Y1 - 2009/11/01 UR - http://jech.bmj.com/content/63/11/871.abstract N2 - Background: Many epidemiological studies require a measure of socioeconomic position. The monetary measure preferred by economists is consumption expenditure; the wealth index has been proposed as a reliable, simple alternative to expenditure and is extensively used.Methods: A systematic review was conducted of the agreement between wealth indices and consumption expenditure, summarising the agreement and exploring factors affecting agreement.Results: Seventeen studies using 36 datasets met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 22 demonstrated weak agreement, 10 moderate agreement, and four strong agreement. There was some evidence that agreement is higher: in middle-income settings; in urban areas; for wealth indices with a greater number of indicators; and for wealth indices including a wider range of indicators.Conclusions: The wealth index is mostly a poor proxy for consumption expenditure. ER -