A Socioeconomic Index to Measure Health Inequalities in the Elderly Population: San Juan, Puerto Rico and Havana, Cuba

The proportion of adults reaching 60 in Latin America is expected to grow quickly. Cuba and Puerto Rico are good examples. San Juan and Havana have a substantial fraction of people above age 60. The objective of this paper is to study inequalities in health in two cities: San Juan, Puerto Rico and Havana, Cuba. This research is based on data from PREHCO (Puerto Rican Elderly Health Conditions) and SABE (Health, Well-being and Aging in Latin America) . A socioeconomic index was calculated for Puerto Rico based on six dimensions: assets, household equipment, household ownership, per capita income, financial debts and health insurance; the index for Cuba was based on five dimensions per capita income, household infrastructure, household equipment, education and neighborhood environment. Using k-medians clustering the elderly population was grouped in three clusters: low, medium and high. Important differences by sex, age and certain health conditions were found between older adults in San Juan and Havana.