Health status and cardiovascular risk of Roma and non-Roma population in underprivileged settlements

Introduction: The "Taking the screening tests in place" program offers cardiovascular screening activities to the in-habitants of underprivileged settlements. Objective: Evaluation of the health status and cardiovascular risk of the Roma and non-Roma population in under-privileged settlements. Method: Information was collected about the demography, lifestyle, current illnesses, access to healthcare and the quality of patient information. General health check (body weight, height, blood pressure, blood sugar, ankle -bra-chial index) and cardiovascular examination were performed. Data were analyzed in Roma and non-Roma groups with Pearson's chi-squared test. Results: 3649 people participated in the study (851 [23%] men, 2798 [77%] women), 16% (598) of the investigated population belonged to the Roma population. The mean age of men in the general population was 58 years and of women 55 years, in the Roma population 48 years and 47 years. People in the Roma population smoked more often (men 45%, women 64%) than people in the general population (both sexes 30%). In the Roma population, the con-sumption of sugary soft drinks at least four times a week (men 55% vs. women 43%) and the BMI (men 30 vs. 29, woman 29 vs. 28) were significantly higher. In the Roma population, 31% of the men and 13% of the women thought that their health status was bad, while in the general population it was 17% of men and 8% of women. Incidence of COPD (18% vs. 9%), coronary disease (18% vs. 13%), peripheral artery disease (13% vs. 9%) was significantly higher in the Roma population among women. Conclusion: In the investigated population, the Roma inhabitants were significantly younger, smoked more, they were more obese, the chronic diseases were more common among them, and they considered their health status worse than the general population.