Health problems among street children seeking care in the Center for Social and Preventive Medicine in Egypt

Background: In Egypt, around 1 million children are on the streets. Street children's health is an issue that is not well researched. The objective of the current study was to determine the health problems of a targeted group of street children seeking medical care and to generate a hypothesis about the positive/negative role of street children care organizations. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 2169 street children who sought medical care at El-Basma clinic at the Center for Social and Preventive Medicine in Cairo University Children Hospital from January 2011 to July 2014. Results: Respiratory illnesses and skin problems were the most prevalent conditions, affecting 485 (22.4%) and 359 (16.6%) of the patients, respectively. Psychological issues and trauma were significantly higher among the adolescent group. Respiratory and gastrointestinal problems were significantly higher among children aged less than 2 years. Genital and cardiac problems were significantly higher among those referred from organizations whereas trauma was significantly higher among those coming directly from the streets. A significant proportion of children at the extremes of the studied age spectrum were coming directly from the streets. Sexually transmitted infections were rare problems. Conclusions: Respiratory and skin diseases were the major morbidity problems among street children, especially adolescent males. Organizations afforded opportunities for access to different health care services.