Objective: Identify and describe population groups with greater risk and morbidity profiles for type II diabetes, hypertension, and tobacco-related illnesses.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out of 840 families under the care of 12 family doctors and nurses in Havana, Cuba. A model-based cluster analysis was used to identify subpopulations with specific morbidity and risk profiles. Key indicators of the subpopulations were compared.
Results: A subpopulation with a high disease burden and a particular risk profile was identified and described. The determining factor in defining this group is the subjective perception of their economic situation. The families in this group have the highest household density of diabetes, hypertension, and tobacco-related illnesses and are distributed among all the facilities visited. On average, the subpopulation consisted of smaller families and have between two and three years less schooling, a more negative perception of their economic situation, and an older average age, when compared to the study group as a whole.
Conclusions: Subpopulations were identified with higher proportions of the disease burden and with particular risk profiles. These subpopulations exhibit certain features consistent with trends in the social structure of Cuban families that have been evolving over the past two decades.