Traveller health: Prevalence of diabetes, pre diabetes and the metabolic syndrome

Irish Travellers are an ethnic minority group exposed to a myriad of social and health inequalities. Their current life expectancy equals that of the background population in the 1940s and one of the main causes of death is cardiovascular disease (CVD). There is a paucity of information on CVD risk factor assessment in the research literature in this population. This study assesses the prevalence of Diabetes, Pre-Diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in a sample population from this community. Working with the Galway Traveller Movement, and following an overnight fast we measured fasting plasma glucose, HDL-cholesterol and Triglycerides. In addition weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded. Of the 47 subjects, there were 4 (8.5%) participants identified as having diabetes, 5 (10.6%) pre-diabetes and 25 (53.2%) with the metabolic syndrome. The point prevalence of diabetes was calculated as 8.5%, pre-diabetes 10.6% and the metabolic syndrome 53.2%. In addition abdominal obesity was present in 70% and hypertension in 43%. Targeted screening for glucose abnormalities and traditional CVD risk factors is needed. Based on current literature, appropriate interventions might reasonably be expected to lower mortality and increase life expectancy.