All Ireland Traveller Health Study Our Geels - Department of Health ...

Health Survey Findings
Section C1: Adult Health Status
General Summary
In ROI, 3,358 general adult interviews were conducted, 1,415 with men and 1,936 with women. A
majority of adults indicated their health was either excellent (22.6%) or very good (27.8%). Males and
females overall had a similar pattern but there was an inverse age-related gradient, with older adults
less likely to rate their health as excellent or good and more likely to rate it as fair or poor.
In NI, 790 health interviews were conducted with adults, 402 with men and 388 with women. 50.4% of
NI adults rated their health as either excellent or very good (14.9% and 33.8% respectively), with women
more likely to rate their health as excellent (17.1%) than men (12.8%). Again there was an inverse
relationship with age: the older the respondent the more likely to rate their health as fair or poor.
In ROI there were high rates of registration with a GP, 96.9% overall, with women slightly more likely to
be so than men and there was a positive age gradient, the older the respondent, the more likely to be
registered. Most respondents also had an up-to-date medical card (92.6%) overall, rising to 99% of those
aged 65 years and older. In NI again, 93.9% were currently registered with a GP, rising to 100% of those
aged 65 years and older. Access to services as measured by general practice availability north and south
is therefore comprehensive. This was perhaps surprising, given the importance of this issue in the past,
due to records transfer and registration problems. (O’Donovan, et al., 1995). An appreciable minority of
respondents in ROI (17.8%) indicated their daily activity or work was limited by long-term illness, more
so in men (19.9%) than women (16.2%) and again, strongly age-related, rising to 40.7% of those 65 years
and older. In NI 15.1% indicated their daily activity was limited by long-term illness or disability, also
with an inverse age gradient, rising to 32.0% in the 45-64 year age group.
A number of different morbidities were reported. The commonest health complaint reported as being
diagnosed by a GP in ROI was a back condition (30.4%). Reported diagnosis of angina was 4.3% overall,
similar in both men and women, and positively related to age. Amongst those aged 65 years and older,
rates were highest of heart attack (11.1%), angina (24.2%) and stroke (3.3%).
Most respondents of both sexes and in both jurisdictions had not been screened for cardiovascular
risk factors in the last 12 months, though risk factor detection was age related and was undertaken
predominantly by the GP in both ROI and NI. Of those tested, a third of respondents in ROI (35.2%)
had been diagnosed with high blood pressure in the last 12 months and a quarter (25.9%) had been
diagnosed with high cholesterol. In NI 44.3% were diagnosed with high blood pressure and 36.8% with
high cholesterol. This pattern too was positively age-related in both jurisdictions.
A third of respondents in ROI (31.3%) and 39.9% in NI were on some form of prescribed medication,
rising in a graduated manner to 77.9% of those aged 65 years and older in ROI. In NI this rise was even
steeper, applying to 82.1% of those aged 45 years and older.
205