Living Conditions in the State of Paraná: Ecological Analysis Based on Variables of the 2000 Demographic Census

Abstract

Living conditions and social inequalities exert a strong influence on the health status of populations. As part of a research that analyzes the relationship between living conditions and mortality rate, this study puts forward a proposal to classify municipalities in the State of Paraná, according to their living conditionns. The classification was based on ten (10) variables of the 2000 Demographic Census, and on the analysis of the discriminatory power of the clusters developed by this study according to the municipality human development index (M-HDI). After having evaluated the municipalities main components and carried out a cluster analysis by the K-means method, five municipal clusters were developed, according to their living conditions. The comparative study of the clusters using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the post hoc Tukey test showed inequalities towards these municipalities urban infrastructure (water supply and garbage collection), and the social insertion of their population. Clusters followed a similar pattern when compared to the M-HDI. Those with increasing M-HDI were classified as having better living conditions, and with statistically significant differences, except for the “longevity” component. Results indicate that the clusters developed on the basis of the variables analyzed have a discriminatory power on their living conditions.