The impact of residential segregation on chronic disease prevalence: A case study on Roma communities in the Balkans

Sammanfattning: Using the data from the United Nations Development Programme survey (2004), the thesis explores whether the incidence of chronic diseases is associated with residential segregation. Possible differences are measured for Roma communities relative to the majority population living in urban residences inhabited by minority, mixed and majority groups. The sample consists of 17,669 observations from 7 Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. For each observation, controls for age, gender, marital status, employment status, income, education, healthcare access and housing conditions are used. The main methodological approach consists of logistic regression models that test the likelihood of chronic illnesses prevalence. The key finding of the study is that segregation and poor socio-economic outcomes affect Roma more than non-Roma groups. However, a higher level of Roma integration can lead to a much lower incidence of chronic diseases among Roma communities, relative to the majority populations of the countries observed in the current study.