A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of Turkey

We aimed to determine the social-demographic characteristics and rate of occurrence of hepatitis B infection of children living/working in the streets in Adana, southern city of Turkey. The application forms of 52 children were assessed. Physical examination could be performed for 39 children...

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Main Authors: Münevver Türkmen, Pinar Okyay, Ocal Ata, Selma Okuyanoğlu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health 2004-04-01
Series:The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
Online Access:https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/2785
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author Münevver Türkmen
Pinar Okyay
Ocal Ata
Selma Okuyanoğlu
author_facet Münevver Türkmen
Pinar Okyay
Ocal Ata
Selma Okuyanoğlu
author_sort Münevver Türkmen
collection DOAJ
description We aimed to determine the social-demographic characteristics and rate of occurrence of hepatitis B infection of children living/working in the streets in Adana, southern city of Turkey. The application forms of 52 children were assessed. Physical examination could be performed for 39 children. The median age was 14 years. The educational status of the children and parents was low. Shoe polishing (22%), selling different goods (22%) and scavenging (33%) were the most common type of work activities. Eighteen (35%) pointed out that they were exposed to beating and attack, three (6%) were sexually abused. Twenty-one (40%) of them were involved in physical fighting and two (4%) were involved in fights resulting in stabbing. Twenty-four (67%) of the children were under 50 percentile for height. Nineteen percent of the children were heavy or medium smokers. Among the 38 children whose hepatitis B markers were checked, HbsAg was positive in 2 (5%), anti-HbcAg in 12 (32%), and anti-HbsAg in 9 (24%). Fifteen (39%) blood samples had negative results. A more nationwide, institutional approach to the problem must be created and maintained.
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institution DOAJ
issn 0041-4301
2791-6421
language English
publishDate 2004-04-01
publisher Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health
record_format Article
series The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
spelling doaj-art-05a681d1630649b0b60a5116afece18f2025-08-20T03:16:23ZengHacettepe University Institute of Child HealthThe Turkish Journal of Pediatrics0041-43012791-64212004-04-01462A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of TurkeyMünevver Türkmen0Pinar OkyayOcal AtaSelma OkuyanoğluDepartment of Pediatrics, Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Medicine, Aydin, Turkey. We aimed to determine the social-demographic characteristics and rate of occurrence of hepatitis B infection of children living/working in the streets in Adana, southern city of Turkey. The application forms of 52 children were assessed. Physical examination could be performed for 39 children. The median age was 14 years. The educational status of the children and parents was low. Shoe polishing (22%), selling different goods (22%) and scavenging (33%) were the most common type of work activities. Eighteen (35%) pointed out that they were exposed to beating and attack, three (6%) were sexually abused. Twenty-one (40%) of them were involved in physical fighting and two (4%) were involved in fights resulting in stabbing. Twenty-four (67%) of the children were under 50 percentile for height. Nineteen percent of the children were heavy or medium smokers. Among the 38 children whose hepatitis B markers were checked, HbsAg was positive in 2 (5%), anti-HbcAg in 12 (32%), and anti-HbsAg in 9 (24%). Fifteen (39%) blood samples had negative results. A more nationwide, institutional approach to the problem must be created and maintained. https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/2785
spellingShingle Münevver Türkmen
Pinar Okyay
Ocal Ata
Selma Okuyanoğlu
A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of Turkey
The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
title A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of Turkey
title_full A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of Turkey
title_fullStr A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of Turkey
title_full_unstemmed A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of Turkey
title_short A descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of Turkey
title_sort descriptive study on street children living in a southern city of turkey
url https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/2785
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