Background Mortality, incidence of most diseases, and prevalence of adverse health behaviours follow an inverse gradient with social class. Many proxies for socioeconomic status (SES) exist; however, each bears a different relation to health outcomes, probably following a different aetiological pathway. Additionally, data on SES can be quite difficult to gather. Five measures of SES were compared, including a novel measure, the HOUSES index, in the prediction of self-rated health (SRH) in two Midwestern settings, Olmsted County, Minnesota, and Jackson County, Missouri. Methods Using a probability sampling design, a cross-sectional telephone survey was administered to a randomised sample of households. The questionnaire collected a variety of sociodemographic and personal health information. The dependent variable, SRH, was dichotomised into excellent/very good/good versus fair/ poor health. Information for the HOUSES index was collected through public property records and corroborated through the telephone questionnaire. Participants were parents/guardians of children aged 1–17 residing in Olmsted County (n=746) and Jackson County (n=704). Results The HOUSES index was associated with adverse SRH in Jackson County adults. All five SES measures were significant predictors in this group. Composite SES indices showed significant associations with SRH in Olmsted County adults. Conclusions The HOUSES index makes a unique contribution to the measurement of SES and prediction of health outcomes. Its utility is qualified by specific social contexts, and it should be used in concert with other SES indices.

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Little is known about the influence of asthma status on humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccine viruses. We compared the virus-specific IgG levels and lymphoproliferative response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to MMR vaccine viruses between asthmatic and nonasthmatic patients. The study subjects included 342 healthy children aged 12–18 years who had received two doses of the MMR vaccine. We ascertained asthma status by applying predetermined criteria. Of the 342 subjects, 230 were available for this study of whom 25 were definite asthmatic patients (10.9%) and the rest of subjects were nonasthmatic patients. The mean of the log-transformed lymphoproliferative responses between definite asthma and nonasthma who had a family history of asthma were for measles, 0.92 ± 0.31 versus 1.54 ± 0.17 (p = 0.125); for mumps, 0.98 ± 0.64 versus 2.20 ± 0.21 (p = 0.035); and for rubella, 0.12 ± 0.37 versus 0.97 ± 0.16 (p = 0.008), respectively, adjusting for the duration between the first MMR vaccination and determination of the immune responses. There were no such differences among children without a family history of asthma. MMR virus–specific IgG levels were not different between study subjects with or without asthma. The study findings suggest asthmatic patients may have a suboptimal cell-mediated immune response to MMR vaccine viruses and a family history of asthma modifies this effect.

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