Prevalence And Associated Factors Of Glue Sniffing And Symptoms Of Neurotoxicity Among Street Children In Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

Background: Organic solvent like toluene is a neurotoxin chemical known to cause manyrnhealth effects targeting mainly the central nervous system. Such chemicals are found in glue.rnThese days, street children are abusing this substance by sniffing on the glue which leavesrnthem for risk of neurotoxicity that is a toxicity of central nervous system.. The magnitude ofrnproblem is not explored in our context. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence ofrnglue sniffing and neurotoxicity symptoms among street children who have been exposed tornorganic solvents through sniffing glue. It‟s also thrives to find out the factors associated withrnglue sniffing. rnMethod: A cross sectional study was employed using both qualitative and quantitativernapproaches. Four hundred twenty participants were recruited in this study with a Probabilisticrnsampling techniques. A modified Germen version Q18 was used to assess neurotoxicrnsymptoms. Focus group discussion (FGD) was used for the qualitative study. Data wererntransferred to epi info version 7and then transferred to SPSS version (20) for analysis. Thernqualitative data were collected using one male and one female FDG. Key informants‟rninterview was also carried out. Descriptive analysis and Logistic regression analysis was usedrnfor the quantitative data whereas Content analyse was done using open code software for thernqualitative part. rnResult: Of 420 participants 330 (78.6%) were male. The prevalence of glue sniffing amongrnstreet children was found to be 81.9% at 95%CI, of which 274 (79.6%) were male. Depressionrn293(69.8%), Headache 287(68.3%) and feeling sick 212(50.5%) were the most prevalentrnneurotoxicity symptoms among street children. Age (AOR=2.04; 95% CI: 1.06-3.93), Workrnstatus (AOR=0.49; 95% CI: 0.26-0.91), time on the street (AOR=3.73; 95% CI: 1.78-7.82),rnPeer pressure (AOR=3.10; 95% CI: 1.72-5.59), stress and depression (AOR=3.72; 95% CI:rn2.07-6.68) and self-esteem (AOR=2.86; 95% CI: 1.51-5.43) were significantly associated withrnglue sniffing. rnConclusion: The prevalence of glue sniffing among street children is alarmingly high causingrnhealth problem on these children with a high prevalence of neurotoxicity symptoms;rndepression, headache and short memory. The determinant factors were age, time on street,rnwork status, peer pressure, stress & depression and self-esteem,. Prohibiting the use of glue byrnlaw and further study is recommended.

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