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Gurgel, R. Q., da Fonseca, J. D. C., Neyra-Castaneda, D., Gill, Geoff and Cuevas, Luis 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6581-0587
(2004)
'Capture-recapture to estimate the number of street children in a city in Brazil'. Archives of Disease in Childhood, Vol 89, Issue 3, pp. 222-224.
Abstract
Background: Street children are an increasing problem in Latin America. It is however difficult to estimate the number of children in the street as this is a highly mobile population.
Aims: To estimate the number of street children in Aracaju, northeast Brazil, and describe the characteristics of this population.
Methods: Three independent lists of street children were constructed from a non-governmental organisation and cross-sectional surveys. The number of street children was estimated using the capture-recapture method. The characteristics of the children were recorded during the surveys.
Results: The estimated number of street children was 1456. The estimated number of street children before these surveys was 526, although non-official estimates suggested that there was a much larger population. Most street children are male, maintain contact with their families, and are attending school. Children contribute to the family budget a weekly average of R$21.2 (pound4.25, (sic)6.0, US$7.5) for boys and R$17.7 (pound3.55, (sic)5.0, US$6.3) for girls.
Conclusion: Street children of Aracaju have similar characteristics to street children from other cities in Brazil. The capture-recapture method could be a useful method to estimate the size of this highly mobile population. The major advantage of the method is its reproducibility, which makes it more acceptable than estimates from interested parties.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | WS Pediatrics > By Age Groups > WS 460 Adolescence (General) |
| Faculty: Department: | Groups (2002 - 2012) > Child & Reproductive Health Group Groups (2002 - 2012) > Clinical Group |
| Digital Object Identifer (DOI): | https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2002.023481 |
| Depositing User: | Martin Chapman |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Aug 2012 14:20 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Feb 2018 13:03 |
| URI: | https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2124 |
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