Kontakt 2026, 28(2):230-238 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2026.023

Field survey of the health status of residents in excluded localities in the Moravian-Silesian RegionSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Markéta Svobodníková^{1, 2, *}, Klára Jarešová^{1, 2}, Nikol Gottfriedová ORCID...^{1, 2}, Petra Macounová ORCID...^{1, 2}, Iveta Bryjová ORCID...^{1, 3}, Hana Tomášková ORCID...^{1, 2}, Ivan Tomášek²

¹ University of Ostrava, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Ostrava, Czech Republic

² Public Health Institute Ostrava, Department of Health Promotion, Ostrava, Czech Republic

³ Silesian University, Faculty of Public Policies in Opava, Institute of Paramedical Health Studies, Opava, Czech Republic

Introduction: Individuals living in socially excluded localities (SEL) generally have worse health compared to the control group. This is caused by a combination of various risk factors. Goal: The aim of this study was to compare specific health parameters collected during field research focused on a population facing social exclusion.

Methods: The group of 937 individuals consisted of 67% (n = 630) from SEL and 33% (n = 307) from a control area in the Moravian-Silesian Region. During the field work, volunteers filled out a questionnaire and had their blood pressure, body measurements, and total cholesterol levels checked. The data were analysed using non-parametric tests (alpha = 5%) and a binomial regression model with Stata v. 18 software.

Results: The average age of the subjects was 45.4 ± 16.0; 67% were women. Subjective assessment of health status as "very poor" was reported by 6.7% of individuals from SEL compared to 0.7% of controls. Approximately 65% of individuals from SEL suffered from one or more chronic diseases, primarily CVD (35%), musculoskeletal system diseases (25%), and respiratory system diseases (17%). Compared to the control group, individuals from SEL had elevated cholesterol, 27% versus 7% (p < 0.001), and 54% of individuals smoked compared to 20% of controls (p < 0.001). Statistically significant differences between SEL and the control group were found in education, unemployment, and healthcare accessibility.

Conclusion: Among inhabitants of SEL, there is a higher risk of developing metabolic and cardiovascular diseases due to the more frequent occurrence of risk factors.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Field research; Health status; Socially excluded locality

Grants and funding:

The "Implementation of Field Activities" project is financially supported by the Statutory City of Ostrava project No. 0700/2024/SVZ "Health Status Screening of the Population in Socially Excluded Localities"; by a specific university research grant, number SGS11/LF/2024: "Assessment of the Health Status of the Population in Socially Excluded Localities of the Moravian-Silesian Region"; and by the European Union within the LERCO project with reg. number CZ.10.03.01/00/22_003/0000003, through the Just Transition Operational Programme.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ostrava (No. 2/2024).

Received: November 20, 2025; Revised: February 2, 2026; Accepted: March 11, 2026; Prepublished online: April 10, 2026; Published: June 11, 2026  Show citation