Peer-reviewed article
The Effect of Public Health System Performance on Child Well-Being: An Analysis Through the Construction and Selection of Composite Indicators
Angélica Cidália Gouveia dos Santos, Matheus Pereira Libório, André G. Coimbra, Marcos Dangelo, Petr Ekel et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This peer-reviewed study develops and tests composite indicators to measure child well-being and public health system performance across countries. The researchers tested different weighting methods for combining multiple health and well-being measures, finding that entropy weighting produced the most stable and reliable composite indicators. The analysis confirms a strong positive relationship between how well public health systems perform and how well children fare in terms of health and development. The study validates these indicators as useful tools for comparing countries and informing policy decisions about child welfare.
Key points
- Entropy weighting produced the strongest correlation between child well-being and health system performance indicators
- Country rankings using entropy weighting were the most stable across uncertainty analysis, demonstrating robust composite indicators
- Composite indicators showed high explanatory power and correlation with GDP, validating compatibility with key economic reference variables
- Better public health system performance is associated with higher child well-being
- Composite indicators provide sufficient discriminant power to help decision-makers distinguish differences between countries
Limitations
The document does not specify which countries were analyzed or provide details on the specific health and well-being measures included in the composite indicators. It is unclear how child well-being was operationally defined or what data sources were used.
Abstract
Interest in child health and well-being is growing, and both are multidimensional. Composite indicators (CIs) are useful tools for analyzing their relationships. This study examines the correlation between the CI of child well-being and that of public health system performance and proposes a weighting scheme for constructing CIs. Among schemes, entropy weighting yielded the strongest correlation. Uncertainty analysis revealed that country rankings with entropy weighting are the most stable, demonstrating robust CI. Strong explanatory power indicates that the CIs correlate with GDP, validating their compatibility with a key reference variable. High discriminant power confirms that CIs provide informational diversity, helping decision-makers distinguish between countries. The analysis shows that better health system performance is associated with higher child well-being, reinforcing the role of public health systems in promoting sustainable development and child well-being.