[Attendance of screening by young Gypsy women]

In the study, the authors surveyed young Gipsy women's attendance of screening, as compared to non-Gipsy women of similar age groups. The survey was based on a national representative sample consisting of 1599 persons selected from women belonging to the age group between 18 and 24 years: out of them 4.3%, that is, 69 persons identified themselves as Gipsies. Manifold difference was observed between the Gipsy and non-Gipsy respondents, with respect to their attendance of screening tests (dental, gynaecological, pulmonary screening, etc.): in all cases the Gipsy women had the more unfavourable indices and, the problem of pulmonary screening seems to be the most alarming one, since Gipsies are an ethnic group living under extremely bad social conditions, with an increased risk of being exposed to infections of tuberculosis.