Technical Report - Donegal Traveller's Project

All Ireland Traveller Health StudyRegarding specific measures of general health, such as an estimate of days during which ill-health hadan impact, the Traveller group appear to be in poorer health than the comparable populations (Table251), although it is interesting to note that the SLAN 2002 medical card population have a higher rate oflimitation by a long term illness or disability. AITHS participants were asked whether their daily activityor work was limited by a long term illness or disability. A similar item was collected in the SLAN and NIContinuous Household surveys, and comparative results are presented in Table 252. It can be seen thatsimilar reporting frequencies are noted in the under-64 age groups, with some differences seen in theover-64 age group. From INSIGHT ‘07, 18.3% of all participants with medical cards reported a long-termillness which limited their daily activity.Table 252: Percentage of respondents in the AITHS, SLAN 2007 and the NI ContinuousHousehold Survey 2008-2009 who reported a limiting long-term illnessTravellers(ROI)(n=1,622)Travellers(NI)(n=390)SLAN 2007 GMSparticipants(n=3,718)NI ContinuousHousehold Survey2008-2009Under 44 years : 11.8% 12.4% 13.5% 12.0%45-64 years 32.8% 32.0% 30.8% 27.0%65 and older 40.7% 28.6% 27.3% 41.0%Total 17.8% 15.1% 23.6% 24.0%Of the 1,260 INSIGHT ‘07 participants who were medical card holders, 97.5% of women and 95.5%of men were registered with a GP; whereas of all INSIGHT ‘07 participants (n=3,410), 87.9% of menand 92.8% of women were registered with a GP. Overall, Travellers are accessing health screening forcholesterol and high blood pressure at least as much as the SLAN 2007 GMS population (Table 253).208