Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

depended on their activity in the streets. Two types <strong>of</strong> children were
differentiated: (1) children from the street, characterized as minors who
have no family relations, sleep on the streets, undertake marginal
economic activities, and are at risk <strong>of</strong> antisocial and delinquent behaviors
and <strong>of</strong> being abused by the adults who surround them (i.e., prostitutes and
robbers, among others), and (2) children on the streets who have family
relations, attend school, and work on the street to earn some money to
help the family. These are also at risk <strong>of</strong> dropping out <strong>of</strong> school, <strong>of</strong>
leaving their family, and to the aggressions <strong>of</strong> the environment.
All children in these circumstances were interviewed. Places used by the
children to sleep and work were identified at the initial stage. They were
subdivided in four groups according the type <strong>of</strong> children found and the
type <strong>of</strong> activity performed: (1) primary meeting places—both types <strong>of</strong>
minors in and from the street are found here, these places are used usually
during conventional hours (e.g., weekdays and during the day time); (2)
meeting places—used mainly on Sundays; (3) night spots—concentrations
<strong>of</strong> children who gather, work, or sleep (children from the street
are found here); and (4) sleeping places—children whose main residence
is the street are found in these places (places include specific streets, bus
stops, parking lots, and uninhabited land).
Once the places to be studied were determined, 13 sampling points were
defined according to activity and type <strong>of</strong> children to be found. Special
observation routes were determined based on the closeness and density <strong>of</strong>
minors to be found in each sampling slot or encounter point. One
hundred and three such routes and 515 meeting places were studied. The
study had a 3-percent error or duplication in the identification <strong>of</strong> the
children. A total <strong>of</strong> 11,172 children were identified; 75 percent were
between 12 and 17 years <strong>of</strong> age, at an average <strong>of</strong> 13 years, and 72 percent
were male and 28 percent female. Males were older, between 14 and 17
years, while females were between 13 and 14 years <strong>of</strong> age. Seven
hundred and thirty-nine such children were selected randomly for
interview.
Data also were drawn from the Information System on Drug Use,
coordinated by the IMP (Ortíz et al. 1989). All cases seen in 44 different
health and justice institutions were screened twice a year for any drug
use, independently <strong>of</strong> the reason for arriving at the institutions. All <strong>of</strong>
those cases with a positive history <strong>of</strong> drug use, from experimentation to
heavy use, were questioned further using a reporting form based on
World Health Organization (WHO) core items for drug use surveys
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