Demographic aging characterization in the city of Rio de Janeiro: contributions to sustainable public policies

Abstract

Objective

Describe the stage of population aging in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Methods

Ecological study with the 160 city neighborhoods as observational units, using social and demographic indicators built with information from the 2010 census. The exploratory analysis was undertaken with thematic maps, and the spatial dependence was measured with the Global Moran’s Index. K-means clustering was used for grouping neighborhoods with similar aging stages.

Results

Three neighborhood clusters in different stages of population aging were found and a spatial trend in the west-east direction was identified, with neighborhoods in the ‘South Zone’ in a more advanced stage of population aging.

Conclusion

The study identified differences in the population aging process and in the age composition of neighborhoods, indicating the need for specific public health policies that allow for the particularities of this process in each location, aiming a sustainable population aging.

Keywords:
population aging; public health policies; spacial analysis