Clustering of the Adult Population According to Behavioural Health Risk Factors as the Focus of Community-Based Public Health Interventions in Poland

Abstract

Effective lifestyle health promotion interventions require the identification of groups sharing similar behavioural risk factors (BRF) and socio-demographic characteristics. This study aimed to identify these subgroups in the Polish population and check whether local authorities’ health programmes meet their needs. Population data came from a 2018 question survey on a random representative sample of 3000 inhabitants. Four groups were identified with the TwoStep cluster analysis method. One of them (“Multi-risk”) differed from the others and the general population by a high prevalence of numerous BRF: 59% [95% confidence interval: 56–63%] of its members smoke, 35% [32–38%] have alcohol problems, 79% [76–82%] indulge in unhealthy food, 64% [60–67%] do not practice recreational physical activity, and 73% [70–76%] are overweight. This group, with an average age of 50, was characterised by an excess of males (81% [79–84%]) and people with basic vocational education (53% [50–57%]). In 2018, only 40 out of all 228 health programmes in Poland addressed BRF in adults; only 20 referred to more than one habit. Moreover, access to these programmes was limited by formal criteria. There were no programmes dedicated to the reduction of BRF exclusively. The local governments focused on improving access to health services rather than on a pro-health change in individual behaviours.