fatemeh dejman

Children, who work or live at streets, are one of the HIV high risk groups in Iran, with no comprehensive preventive programs. This study intended to assess substance use among street children in Tehran, Capital of Iran.
This paper is a part of comprehensive rapid assessment and response (RAR) research on street children in Tehran in 2012-13. Data were collected by interview using questionnaires. Two hundred and seventy 289 street children were selected by time-location sampling in Tehran.
From the total of 259 street children, 59.4% were Iranian and 74% were boys. Prevalence of drug use among street children was 25.6%.  The prevalence of smoking, drug abuse and also drinking alcohol were 8.9% among boys and 1.4% among girls.20.8%, 17.3% and 6.9% of the street children had at least used cigarette, alcohol and drugs once in their lives respectively. There was a significant relationship between consumption of alcohol and other substances among street children with higher age, type of occupation and leaving home experience.
Comprehensive preventive programs targeting street children is recommended to be started at lower ages, with the main focus on young boys among street children. In addition family intervention and improvement of children’s lifestyle could be a main strategy for drug use prevention among this population.

Children who work or live in the streets are one of the high-risk groups for HIV. The high population of street children and lack of comprehensive intervention programs for them increase their risk for HIV in Iran. This study intended to explore the situation of drug abuse in street children in Tehran، the capital city. This paper reports part of a comprehensive rapid assessment and response (RAR) research project on street children in Tehran during 2012-13. Data were collected by interviewing subjects using questionnaires. The sample size was 289 street children selected by time-location sampling in Tehran. Data showed that about 25. 6% of the street children had had some history of cigarette smoking، alcohol abuse، and/or drug abuse. Most of them were boys aged 15-18 years. The prevalence rate of cigarette and/or hubble-bubble smoking، alcohol consumption and drug abuse during the preceding 6 months 12. 1%، 11% and 6. 9%، respectively. Significant associations were found between alcohol consumption and drug abuse on the one hand and the children’s age، type of occupation and home-leaving experience on the other. Further analysis of the data showed that the main reason for drug abuse was curiosity (56. 6%)، followed by mere enjoyment (39. 6%) and leisure (35. 8%). It can be concluded that drug abuse among street children is highly associated with gender، age، alcohol consumption، cigarette smoking and leaving home experience. Therefore، it is recommended to start drug abuse prevention programs at lower ages، with particular emphasis on boys. In addition، family intervention and improvement of children’s lifestyle aiming at preventing home-leaving could be a main strategic plan for reducing drug abuse among street children.