Small Area Mental Health Index (SAMHI)

Summary 

The SAMHI is a composite annual measure of population mental health for each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) in England. The SAMHI combines data on mental health from multiple sources (NHS-Mental health-related hospital attendances, Prescribing data – Antidepressants, QOF - depression, and DWP - Incapacity benefit and Employment support allowance for mental illness) into a single index.

Technical description 

Each indicator was individually standardised by rescaling data to have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1 (z-scores). Maximum likelihood factor analysis is used as a method for combining indicators (by finding appropriate weights) into a single score based on the inter-correlations between all the indicators.