Using Principal Component Analysis to Identify Priority Neighbourhoods for Health Services Delivery by Ranking Socioeconomic Status.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a comprehensive indicator of health status and is useful in area-level health research and informing public health resource allocation. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a useful tool for developing SES indices to identify area-level disparities in SES within communities. While SES research in Canada has relied on census data, the voluntary nature of the 2011 National Household Survey challenges the validity of its data, especially income variables.