[A multicriteria tool for the analysis of health status indicators of a population. Application to the elaboration of a typology for the use of health indicators].
The authors have designed a multicriteria framework for the analysis of health indexes in order to provide a tool for the comparison of population health status indexes and to establish a typology of these indexes regarding their use for public health. This framework allows for (a) shedding some light on the conceptualization of health underlying each index, (b) understanding the nature of the phenomenon which are effectively measured, (c) understanding the principles of the construction of the index, (d) giving some details concerning its main properties, (e) and finally understanding its possible uses. Using this multicriteria framework for analyzing and comparing 16 different population health status indexes, the authors suggest some guidelines for choosing an index regarding its future utilization (identification of priorities, resources allocation, evaluation). Finally, the limits of the utilization of health status indexes within the process of decision making in public health are underlined.