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KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND SUBSTANCE USE PRACTICES AMONG

STREET CHILDREN IN WESTERN KENYA.

Written by

Lonnie Embleton, David Ayuku, Lukoye Atwoli, , Rachel Vreeman and Paula Braitstein

Where?

Eldoret, Kenya.

Who?

146 children and

youth ages 10–19 years, classified as either children on the street or children of the street

Characteristics

*Ages of 10 and 19

*Not currently enrolled

in an educational institution

*and either spending a portion or majority of their time on the

street

What was done?

A cross-sectional survey was designed within the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices

(KAP) model.The survey was conducted in Kiswahili through face-to-face interviews

using a questionnaire comprised of 78 questions to evaluate changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices

of street-involved children and youth participating in a substance abuse curriculum.

What was obtained?

* Males accounted for the

majority of subjects in both categories.

*The

median age of the whole population was 14 years.

*Almost all participants indicated they performed activities or work for money with the

exception of girls on the street, whereby only 53% reported engaging in income-generating

activities.

*Most participants (79%) indicated someone in their

family used alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs, and this did not vary greatly among the two

categories of youth or by sex.

Tools

Results

Data were entered into Epi Info (3.5.1) from paper-based surveys and subsequently imported

into SAS (version 9.0, Institute Inc, Cary, NC, USA) for analysis. Bivariate analysis using

χ2 or Fisher’s Exact Test (where expected cell sizes were less than 5) was used to test the

associations between selected variables and the outcomes of interest.

These

results demonstrate the urgent need to develop effective and innovative interventions for

children in street circumstances to mitigate the harmful effects of long-term substance use

and street life

Melissa Daniela Nova Hernández

2150696