Irish Travellers suffer a disproportianate burden of physical health conditions, according to a review published by Trinity College researchers in BMJ Open.

 

Led by Dr Julie Broderick, Head of Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine, the review found that common conditions like metabolic syndrome, asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis are to to three times more prevalent in the Travelling community compared to the general Irish population.

 

All available evidence across published reports and peer-reviewed journals, along with grey literature, was pooled, reporting physical health conditions of Irish Travellers, up to 4 April 2023.

 

Eleven unique studies (20 reports) were included in this scoping review, including 7,397 participants. One study took place in England and Wales, while the remaining studies took place in Ireland.