Prevalence and factors associated with substance use among street children in Jimma town, Oromiya national regional state, Ethiopia: a community based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Street children constitute a marginalized population in most urban centers of the world. According to UN sources, there are up to 150 million street children in the world today. The estimated number of children who live on the streets in Ethiopia was 150,000, of which about 60,000 of them in Addis Ababa. However, aid agencies estimate that the problem may be far more serious, with nearly 600,000 street children country-wide and over 100,000 in Addis Ababa. World Health Organization estimates that globally, 25-90% of street children indulge in substance use. Even if substance use has become a common problem in Ethiopia, most of the studies done mainly focused among schools, college and university students. Research on street children and their substance use habits in Ethiopia was limited and specifically non in Jimma town. Objectives: To assess the prevalence and factors associated with substance use among street children in Jimma town of Ethiopia in 2019. Methods: Cross sectional study was undertaken from March 1-31, 2019. Complete enumeration of study subjects was done and all 312 children of the streets were included. Interviewer administered structured questionnaires was used to collect the data. Bivariable logistic regression was carried out to select candidate for multiple logistic regression analysis with p-value < 0.25 at 95% confidence. Multiple logistic regression was carried out with those candidate variables using backward method and the associations predictors to the response variable was declared with p value of < 0.05 at 95% confidence level.

Assessment of Knoweledge and Reasons towards Substance Abuse among Community in Kebele 08, Harar Town, Eastern Ethiopia

“…The 54.4% of the study participants were abused to alcohol consumption. This result is significantly higher than study report of study done in Jimma town, Ethiopia (11.5%) andin Iran (33%) [19,20].This variation could be due difference in sample size, geographical and cultural difference among the participants. Current study finding is lower than study report of study done in Mekelle town, Ethiopia in which 64.9% of the respondents were addicted to alcohol consumption [13].…”

“…HealthIn the bivariate logistic regression association of sex, educational status and age towards knowledge about substance abuse was assessed. Accordingly sex, educational status and age were found to be significantly associated with knowledge about substance abuse with [p value< 0.05).In multivariate logistic regression, respondents with age of less than 45 years were19 times more likely to have adequate knowledge about substance abuse [AOR=19, 95% CI: 2.46-19.46] compared to respondents whose age is above 45 years and respondents who are literate are 43 times more likely to have adequate knowledge about substance abuse [AOR=43.19, 95%CI: 8.42-187.84] (Table 5).…”

Substance Use among Street-Connected Children and Adolescents in Ghana and South Africa: A Cross-Country Comparison Study

“…Secondly, the relationship between alcohol use and violence-related behaviors reported in both countries could be attributed to street adolescents' use of various substances within the street environment as a coping strategy to deal with level of aggression that is required to survive the highly competitive street environment. Substance use has been found to be strongly entrenched in street life culture and employed to manage the multitude of challenges they face [7,[11][12][13][14][15]37]. These avoidance coping behaviors are likely to be facilitated by homeless adolescents' inability to access psychological and health care services and having inadequate knowledge and skills regarding appropriate coping strategies.…”

“…However, most of the data on substance use and misuse is derived from studies conducted in economically advantaged and Western countries, particularly Canada, Australia and the United States. Although some evidence on the prevalence of substance use among homeless youth does exist in sub-Saharan Africa [2,9,10,13,14], studies with a cross-country comparison of the prevalence of substance use within the sub-region remain few. It may therefore be very useful to compare prevalence rates and correlates of substance use in a developed country with a vast research base such as that of South Africa, with rates and correlates in a developing country such as Ghana, which is currently undergoing significant economic and social transition.…”

Problematic substance use and its associated factors among street youth in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia

“…Other studies in Accra, Ghana, revealed that substance use was relatively high, as 12 and 16.2% reported daily use of alcohol and marijuana, respectively ( 3 ). In Ethiopia, the prevalence of substance use among street children was 30.8% ( 20 ).…”