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Kidney diseases in Roma and non-Roma children from eastern Slovakia: are Roma children more at risk?

International Journal of Public Health volume 59, pages 1023–1026 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

To compare the occurence of primary renal diseases (PRD) in Roma and non-Roma children.

Methods

Data on all outpatients (n = 921) from a tertiary pediatric nephrology centre (<19 years) in eastern Slovakia were collected. We assessed early signs and symptoms and PRD for Roma and non-Roma children.

Results

The proportion of Roma among patients was relatively small regarding early signs like proteinuria but large regarding PRD with gross clinically apparent symptoms (e.g. Alport syndrome, p < 0.01 and systemic lupus erythematosus, p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The overall proportion of Roma children in outpatients with kidney problems is smaller than the estimated proportion of Roma in all children in Slovakia, in particular for early signs, but not for major renal diseases.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank K. Samudovska MD for her invaluable contribution to the data collection. This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract no. APVV-20-038305. This work was supported by the project ‘Centre for Excellent Research of Atherosclerosis and its Complications—Myocardial Infarction and Stroke’, Operational Program of Research and Development financed by European Fund for Regional Development. No. 034/2009/2.1./OPR&aD.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Paediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Safarik University, Tr. SNP 1, 040 11, Kosice, Slovak Republic

    Gabriel Kolvek & Ludmila Podracka

  2. Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, Safarik University, Kosice, Slovak Republic

    Gabriel Kolvek, Jaroslav Rosenberger & Jitse P. van Dijk

  3. Department of Community and Occupational Health, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Roy E. Stewart, Jitse P. van Dijk & Sijmen A. Reijneveld

Authors
  1. Gabriel Kolvek
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  2. Ludmila Podracka
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  3. Jaroslav Rosenberger
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  4. Roy E. Stewart
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  5. Jitse P. van Dijk
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  6. Sijmen A. Reijneveld
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriel Kolvek.

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Kolvek, G., Podracka, L., Rosenberger, J. et al. Kidney diseases in Roma and non-Roma children from eastern Slovakia: are Roma children more at risk?. Int J Public Health 59, 1023–1026 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0609-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0609-z

Keywords

  • Children
  • Ethnicity
  • Primary renal disease
  • Roma