Zeman Catherine L, Depken Diane E, Senchina David S
Health Division, Wellness & Recreation Center, School of HPELS, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls 50614-0241, USA.
Ethn Health. 2003 Aug;8(3):223-49. doi: 10.1080/1355785032000136434.
Roma health issues are under-studied from a comprehensive, epidemiological perspective. The Roma peoples (including 'Travellers') have been living in and around Central and Eastern Europe for centuries, and may be one of the oldest systematically oppressed minority groups in Europe. This review examines the research literature in regard to the health and epidemiology of this group with the aim of examining the breadth and depth of the literature and reflecting on the primary and applied research needed to address the health needs of Roma groups.
Internet, database and ancestral searches were conducted via such electronic databases as Medline and PubMed. Ancestral searches involved consulting previous literature reviews in select topical areas and obtaining all appropriate, primary literature. The time parameters of the search began with the year 1990 to current but was later expanded to 1985-2003 in order to capture slightly older published work.
This paper describes what is known concerning Roma health via a review of the published studies, with special emphasis on population health and epidemiological studies. One hundred and twenty-nine articles are reviewed and discussed. The majority of research (50%) examines the genetic characteristics of this group.
Surveillance and population health indices for this international minority population is scarce to lacking in the published literature. Concluding comments focus on the unique character of the study population and the need for scientific studies of Roma health issues and the cultural concerns which might affect them.
从全面的流行病学角度来看，罗姆人的健康问题尚未得到充分研究。罗姆人（包括“旅行者”）几个世纪以来一直生活在中欧和东欧及其周边地区，可能是欧洲最古老的、长期受到压迫的少数群体之一。本综述考察了关于该群体健康与流行病学的研究文献，目的是审视文献的广度和深度，并思考为满足罗姆人群体的健康需求而需要开展的基础研究和应用研究。
通过诸如Medline和PubMed等电子数据库进行互联网、数据库和追溯检索。追溯检索包括查阅选定主题领域先前的文献综述，并获取所有合适的基础文献。检索的时间参数始于1990年至今，但后来扩展到1985 - 2003年，以便收录稍早发表的作品。
本文通过对已发表研究的综述，描述了有关罗姆人健康的已知情况，特别强调了人群健康和流行病学研究。共审查和讨论了129篇文章。大多数研究（50%）考察了该群体的基因特征。
已发表的文献中缺乏针对这一国际少数群体的监测和人群健康指标。结论性评论聚焦于研究人群的独特性质，以及开展关于罗姆人健康问题及可能影响这些问题的文化因素的科学研究的必要性。
