Citation

Casado Flores J, Baño Rodrigo A, Lirio Casero J, Solera Oliva R. An. Esp. Pediatr. 1993; 39(2): 125-131.

Vernacular Title

Hijos de padres heroinomanos: un grupo de riesgo. Estudio de 119 casos.

Affiliation

Departamento de Pediatría, Hospital del Niño Jesús Universidad Autónoma, Madrid.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Ediciones Doyma)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8239207

Abstract

In order to know the medical and social problems of children of heroin addicted parents (one or both), one-hundred and nineteen patients were studied. All children had been hospitalized suffering from different diseases. The age of these children ranged from 1 day to 17.3 years (19.6 +/- 30.9 months). Seventy-four of the children were less than 1 year old. The total number of admissions was 159 (range 1-14), representing 2.575 days of hospitalization. The most frequent diagnoses were infectious diseases (gastrointestinal and respiratory), deficiency related diseases (malnutrition and anemia) and parental neglect. Maltreatment was suspected in 44 children (physical: 10, severely neglected: 26, abandonment: 8). Eight children died during the study (AIDS: 4, maltreatment: 2, other causes: 2). Nine parents also died (4 from heroin overdose). The social and family environment of these children, with an increased risk for delinquency and marginality, as well as frequent hospitalizations, make these children a special group at risk for social and health problems which demands multidisciplinary attention and understanding.

Language: es