Work-related injuries among child street-laborers in Latin America: Prevalence and predictors

Objectives. To determine the prevalence and nature of occupational injuries among children working in the streets of four major cities in Latin America, as well as to identify factors that predict these work-related injuries. Methods. This cross-sectional study interviewed 584 children from 5-17 yea...

Full description

Autores:
Tipo de recurso:
Fecha de publicación:
2009
Institución:
Universidad del Rosario
Repositorio:
Repositorio EdocUR - U. Rosario
Idioma:
eng
OAI Identifier:
oai:repository.urosario.edu.co:10336/21922
Acceso en línea:
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1020-49892009000900008
https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/21922
Palabra clave:
Promoción de salud
Child labor
Homeless youth
Accidents
Occupational
Brazil
Colombia
Ecuador
Latin America
Peru
Rights
License
Abierto (Texto Completo)
Description
Summary:Objectives. To determine the prevalence and nature of occupational injuries among children working in the streets of four major cities in Latin America, as well as to identify factors that predict these work-related injuries. Methods. This cross-sectional study interviewed 584 children from 5-17 years of age working on the streets of Bogota, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Quito, Ecuador; and São Paulo, Brazil. Descriptive analyses and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted, with incidence and serious injuries regressed on occupational and sociodemographic variables. Results. Approximately 39.6% of the child street-laborers surveyed reported an injury sustained while working in the streets: scratches (19.5%), cuts/lacerations (16.4%), bums (8.6%), car accidents (8.9%), sprains (4.6%), and amputations (0.3%). Working a high number of daytime hours and performing on the street predicted the greatest risk of injury, even after controlling for sociodemographic factors; specifically, each additional hour of daytime work increased the risk of injury by 1.4%. Child performers had three times the injury rate of children primarily selling products. Boys, older children, and children in Quito were more likely to experience moderate-to-severe injuries, than girls, younger children, and street children in the other study cities. Conclusions. Interventions are needed to address the substantial risk of injury experienced by children working on the city streets of Latin America.