title: Inhalant abuse (typewriter correction fluid) in street children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  : Inhalant abuse is a growing concern in India among street children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  : To describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 9 street children and adolescents with typewriter correction fluid abuse.
  
  
  METHODS
  : Nine street children who presented to the psychiatry department of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi for treatment of inhalant abuse were interviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  : The inhalant abusers were boys of 10 to 17 years, school dropouts who had run away from villages of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. In two-third of children there was domestic violence and conflict in their family, along with physical abuse by family members; in one-third it was due to alcoholic fathers. They used to "huff" typewriter correction fluid, and abused other substances as well.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  : There is a need to systematically study inhalant abuse in the street children in India.
authors.affiliation: From the *Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi, India; †Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India; and ‡ Lyell McEwin Hospital, Elizabeth Vale, South Australia.
authors.forename: Samir Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Praharaj
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Manu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arora