Saadia Ahsan, Abdullah Ahmad Orakzai, Hamid Hussain, Muhammad Ahmad Orakzai, Nuzhat Huma.
Health Status and Health Seeking Behaviour of Street Children in Peshawar.
J Saidu Med Col Jan ;11(2):78-83.

Background: The street children are exposed to many hazards and are prone to ill-health due to unhygienic and harsh living conditions; they suffer from a wide range of diseases, ranging from common illnesses to growth and nutritional disorders and even life threatening conditions. Objective: This study was conducted to assess the common health problems and health status of street children and to determine the health seeking behaviour of street children in Peshawar. Materials and methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted on 385 street children in Peshawar. Study duration was six months. Non probability, snowball sampling technique was used. Semi structured questionnaire was used as data collection tool. Results: Respiratory tract illnesses were the most common illness followed by fever and body-aches. 67% of street children were aware of tertiary hospitals. 92.2% of the street children preferred going to Local Health Care worker (LHCW) for their health issues. 30% of the street children had never visited a tertiary hospital. 21 % complained that the cost of health care was high. 13.3% of the street children reported that the health care centres were overcrowded, 12% complained about long waiting period. 7% of the street children complained about the bad attitude of health care workers. Conclusion: The street children suffered from a wide range of ailments. Majority of street children were aware of tertiary hospitals, yet an overwhelming majority of the street children preferred going to Local Health Care worker (LHCW) for their health issues.

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