Population Size Estimates of Street Children in Iran: Synthesis of Multiple Methods

Abstract

We used four methods (direct count, indirect count, wisdom of the crowd, and unique object multiplier) to map and estimate the population size of street children in six major cities in Iran in 2017. In aggregate for the six cities, the number of street children was estimated at 5296 (interquartile range [IQR] 4122-7071) using the median of the four methods. This corresponds to a rate of 16.3 (IQR 12.5-24.5) per 10,000 children age 5-18 years old, or 3.2 (IQR 2.4-5.3) per 10,000 total population. The total number for street children in the country is estimated at 26,000 (IQR 20,719) children. Results can help policymakers advocate for resources, plan programs, and evaluate the reach of programs for street children. The maps created through the course of the population size estimation exercise can also guide outreach efforts to provide street children with health and social welfare services.

Comparing substance use and mental health among sexual and gender minority and heterosexual cisgender youth experiencing homelessness

“…The research team conducted a total of 103 interviews; three participants were unable to complete the entirety of the questionnaire and their data was excluded from analysis. Our analysis defined homelessness as (1) living in a supervised publicly-or privately-operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangement or (2) living within a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for (or ordinarily used) as a regular sleeping accommodation including car parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, airports, and camping grounds [16]. Participants who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, unsure, or self-identified in write-in responses as "pansexual", "transgender", and "nongender" were categorized as SGM youth in data analysis.…”

“…trends. In the San Francisco 2019 Homeless Unique Youth Count & Survey, one in five homeless individuals on a single night was under the age of 25 [16]. Of these unstably housed youth, nearly half (46%) identified as LGBTQ+.…”

“…One in three surveyed youth reported ongoing drug or alcohol use, and 13% reported substance use as a cause of their homelessness. Mental health was another commonly reported cause of homelessness, with 30% of all San Francisco homeless youth indicating that their mental health was a contributing cause of homelessness [16]. Symptoms of depression, PTSD, and anxiety among service-seeking San Francisco youth experiencing homelessness are correlated with increased prevalence of opioid and stimulant use, demonstrating the inter-connectedness of substance use and mental health outcomes [17].…”

Diversity in substance use behaviour among street children of Delhi under Bayesian paradigm

“…The study clearly demonstrates the utility of Bayesian paradigm of index based measure as the methodology for deeper understanding of age profile. The results demonstrates that such methodological innovation, unravel better characterization of age profile as it provides the evidence of propensity for finding substance using street children, who belongs to lower age group (7-10 years, highest measured entropy of 3.73) followed by middle age-group (11-14 years) and upper age group (15)(16)(17)(18). In addition to that a systematic pattern was also captured through the Bayesian derived SDI among agegroups with lesser variability than classical SDI estimates, that can be utilized by policy makers.…”

“…In the field of drug use epidemiology, the methodological challenges are inevitable [ 15 ]. Numerous studies have been performed in several countries like Bangladesh [ 16 ]; Pakistan [ 17 ]; Nepal [ 18 ]; Tehran [ 19 ]; Kenya [ 20 ]; Brazil [ 21 ] and India [ 22 ], but majority of them utilized purposive sampling for recruitment of street children.…”