ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: The benefits that accrue to a country by having a literate population are multidimensional; it becomes imperative to study the determinants or reasons of school dropouts. Therefore the present study was undertaken to find out the magnitude of the health problems of school dropouts in an urban slum in a metropolitan city. Methods: This study uses a community based descriptive cross-sectional design to identify school dropouts, their health problems, and comparison of these factors with non-school dropouts conducted in an urban slum area after the informed consent from all the participants. Descriptive analysis for socio-demographic factors in dropouts was done using Univariate analysis. P value less than 0.05 was the level of significance. Result: It was evident that the nutritional status of respondents during health check up exhibited a significant difference (p<0.05) when compared to the normal comparison group. The comparison of history of recurrent illness in respondents did not show any significant difference between two groups. Conclusion: In order to minimize the school dropouts there should be a regular medical checkup of children so that the parents are satisfied that their child is being taken care of in the school. Keywords: Health profile, School dropouts, Urban.