Comparative Illness and Disability in Lancashire
2005

Introduction

A Comparative Illness and Disability Ratio or Indicator, designed to identify areas with relatively high rates of people whose quality of life is impaired by poor health or who are disabled was first used in the compilation of the Indices of Deprivation 2004 developed on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Originally constructed on the basis of 2001 data, the indicator was later updated using 2003 information and more recently has been updated again to 2005 as part of an update of the Indices of Deprivation 2007. Information is available for Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA). Full downloads of both 2001 and 2003 data by these LSOAs for the whole of England are available from the Office for National Statistics Neighbourhood Statistics website whilst the latest data for 2005 are available from the Department for Communities and Local Government website. Data relating specifically to Lancashire can be obtained from our Data Download Centre, which also provides rankings of the comparative illness and disability indicator scores for LSOAs within both a Lancashire and England context.

Background to the Data

The data used for the Illness and Disability indicator are drawn from administrative sources relating to a range of social security benefits handled by the Department for Work and Pensions. The exercise produced a count of individuals receiving at least one of the specified benefits amongst the following:

• Income Support (IS) is paid to people on low incomes and which has a premium that is paid to people suffering a limiting illness or disability.
• Attendance Allowance (AA) is paid to people who need help to look after themselves and to people who become ill or disabled on or after the age of 65. It is paid at a different rate depending on whether a person needs care during the day, during the night, or both.
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is paid to people who become disabled before the age of 65 and need help with personal care, getting around, or both.
• Severe Disability Allowance (SDA) is paid to those who cannot work because of a severe illness or disability but do not satisfy the contribution conditions for Incapacity Benefit.
• Incapacity Benefit (IB) is paid to people who are assessed as being incapable of work and who meet the appropriate contribution conditions.

It should be noted that the data used in the Indicator represent a ratio or "standardised measure" of illness and disability, rather than an absolute count or percentage. For each area it is assumed that a figure of 100 is the value that might be expected to occur given the age and sex distribution of the population within that area. Therefore, a figure of less than 100 shows a lower prevalence of illness and disability compared to the expected figure given the age/sex distribution in the area. Conversely, a figure of greater than 100 indicates a higher prevalence compared to the expected value. Presenting the data in this way provides a consistent basis for comparisons between areas, allowing the data to be ranked in a meaningful way.

Lancashire Results

In contrast to the overall pattern across England where there are roughly equal numbers of areas with illness and disability ratios above and below their expected values, the distribution in Lancashire is markedly skewed towards areas that have a greater prevalence of persons with illness or disability than might have been expected on the basis of the local demographic profiles. In total, 740 or 79% of the Lancashire sub-region's LSOAs have values above 100 or the expected ratio. More than 100 or 11% of Lancashire's LSOAs have illness and disability ratios more than double their expected values and of these, two, have ratios in excess of three times their expected values. Viewed from a national perspective, Lancashire has 27 LSOAs that rank amongst the poorest 1% in England and 47 within the poorest 2%.

Top and bottom ranked LSOAs in Lancashire together with their ward locations are shown in Table 1. Figure 2 illustrates the geographical distribution of the illness and disability ratios across the sub-region. In the most extreme instance an area of Wensley Fold ward in Blackburn with Darwen has an illness and disability ratio of more than four-times the expected value. This extreme case also ranks as the sixth poorest result in England. Nearly all districts have small pockets in which illness and disability ratios are more than double their expected values but in general, the highest ratios are to be found within the larger urban centre, most especially in Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, Hyndburn and Preston. These districts are all listed in the 2007 Index of Multiple Deprivation as being among the "50 most deprived" in England. More rural and generally speaking, more affluent locations, most notably in the Ribble Valley area but also in parts of Lancaster, Fylde, South Ribble, Chorley, West Lancashire and Wyre, have ratios within the lower rankings with an area in Mellor ward (Ribble Valley) having the most favourable out-turn.

Figure 1 Comparative Illness and Disability Indicator, 2005

Source DCLG - Standardised Illness and Disability Ratios, 2005

A slightly different interpretation of the distribution of standardised illness and disability scores in Lancashire relative to their distribution across England can be gleaned by grouping the LSOAs into deciles (Table 2). This further emphasises the skew towards poorer illness and disability scores in Lancashire relative to England. Across the sub-region nearly 20% of Lancashire's LSOAs are in the first (poorest) decile but only 0.1% of LSOAs are in the (best) tenth decile. At the level of individual districts, the results can be even more extreme. In the case of Blackburn, for example, 45% of its LSOAs are in the lowest decile (i.e. four and-a half times the national average) and the district has just two LSOAs ranked above the fifth decile. In the case of Blackpool, Burnley and Hyndburn there are no LSOAs in at all above the fifth decile. Fylde is the only district without a single LSOA in the poorest 1st decile while Ribble Valley is the only district to have an LSOA in the top ranking 10th decile.

This page was compiled by Peter Kivell.

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