Table 3 Comparisons between Gypsies and Travellers and age–sex‐matched comparators on standardised general health status measures and numbers reporting specific illnesses and problems.
| Health variable | Gypsies and Travellers, n = 260 | Comparators, n = 260 | Age–sex matched p Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health status over past year | |||||
| Good | 103 (40%) | 147 (57%) | |||
| Fairly good | 80 | 76 | |||
| Not good | 77 | 37 | <0.001† | ||
| Long‐term illness | |||||
| Yes | 101/242 (42%) | 75/242 (31%) | 0.009 | ||
| Accidents in the past 6 months “which caused you to see a doctor or go to hospital?” | 34/260 (13%) | 22/260 (8%) | 0.112 | ||
| Health on day of interview | |||||
| Mobility | |||||
| No problems | 196 (75%) | 222 (85%) | 002† | ||
| Some problems | 64 (25%) | 38 (15%) | |||
| Confined to bed | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | |||
| Self‐care | |||||
| No problems | 232 (89%) | 250 (96%) | 0.002† | ||
| Some problems | 17 (7%) | 7 (3%) | |||
| Unable to perform | 11 (4%) | 3 (1%) | |||
| Usual activities | |||||
| No problems | 203 (78%) | 227 (87%) | 002† | ||
| Some problems | 46 (18%) | 28 (11%) | |||
| Unable to perform | 11 (4%) | 5 (2%)) | |||
| Pain/discomfort | |||||
| No pain | 173 (67%) | 188 (72%) | 0.004† | ||
| Moderate pain | 50 (19%) | 60 (23%) | |||
| Extreme pain | 37 (14%) | 12 (5%) | |||
| Anxiety/depression | |||||
| Not anxious | 186 (72%) | 218 (84%) | 0.001† | ||
| Moderately anxious | 52 (20%) | 36 (14%) | |||
| Extremely anxious | 22 (8%) | 6 (2%) | |||
| Mean EQ‐5D tariff score (SD) | 0.75 (0.36) | 0.87 (0.23) | <0.001* | ||
| Illness/problems identified from specific questions | |||||
| Chest pain/discomfort | 88/260 (34%) | 57/260 (22%) | 0.004 | ||
| Possible angina | 78/260 (30%) | 51/260 (20%) | 0.008 | ||
| Chronic cough | 127/260 (49%) | 43/260 (17%) | <0.001 | ||
| Chronic sputum | 119/260 (46%) | 38/260 (15%) | <0.001 | ||
| Bronchitis | 107/260 (41%) | 26/260 (10%) | <0.001 | ||
| Asthma | 168/260 (65%) | 105/260 (40%) | <0.001 | ||
| Anxiety | 100/255 (39%) | 33/255 (13%) | <0.001 | ||
| Difference (95% CI) | |||||
| Illnesses/problems reported after prompting | |||||
| Nerves | 73/260 (28%) | 10/260 (4%) | <0.001 | 24% (18–30%) | |
| Arthritis | 57/260 (22%) | 25/260 (10%) | <0.001 | 12% (7–18%) | |
| Asthma | 56/260 (22%) | 14/260 (5%) | <0.001 | 17% (11–22%) | |
| Eye/vision problems | 28/260 (11%) | 9/260 (4%) | 0.003 | 7% (3–12%) | |
| Bronchitis/emphysema | 27/260 (10%) | 5/260 (2%) | <0.001 | 8% (4–13%) | |
| Heart disease including angina | 20/260 (8%) | 9/260 (4%) | 0.035 | 4% (1–8%) | |
| Hearing problems | 16/260 (6%) | 8/260 (3%) | 0.152 | 3% (–1% to 7%) | |
| Rheumatism | 15/260 (6%) | 3/260 (1%) | 0.008 | 5% (1–8%) | |
| Diabetes | 11/260 (4%) | 9/260 (4%) | 0.824 | 0% (–3% to 4%) | |
| Stroke | 3/260 (1%) | 2/260 (1%) | 1.000 | 0% (–3% to 2%) | |
| Cancer | 2/260 (1%) | 6/260 (2%) | 0.289 | –1% (–4% to 1%) |
p Values from McNemar's test, except *paired t test and †Wilcoxon matched pairs test. The EuroQol‐5D Visual Analogue Scale (EQ‐5D VAS) is scored from 0 (poor) to 100 (good health). The EQ‐5D is scored from −0.6 to 1 (good health).