Homeless youth are 11 times more likely to die than other young people, according to a study conducted in Montreal and to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

When Montreal researchers began the five-year study in January 1995, they had planned to investigate the rate of HIV infection among the city's "street kids."

However, during the study period, 26 of the more than 1,000 street kids being tracked died, leading the researchers to revise their focus.

"We were following these youth over time and I noticed that some of them – we couldn't trace them anymore," study co-author Nancy Haley told CBC News. "That's when we decided to sit down and look at the mortality rate... among these youth."

Researchers discovered that suicide was the main cause of death, closely followed by drug overdoses. The group also identified a number of "predictors of death" among youth. These included:

  • HIV infection.
  • Daily alcohol use in the previous month.
  • Homelessness in the previous six months.
  • Drug injection in the previous six months.

In the case of HIV-infected street youth, death was not usually from AIDS-related infections, noted Haley, a pediatrician and an infectious disease consultant to Montreal's public health department.

The researchers speculate that homeless youth recently diagnosed with HIV become depressed about their situation and have fewer places for support or counselling.

Some of the "predictors" can be eliminated, Haley said. The study calls for more targeted treatment of addictions and mental health problems.

However, the best way to deal with street kids is to make sure they don't end up on the street in the first place, Haley said. Families that need help coping with their children should receive more support and services.

"These children and these youth, when you talk to them, they've had problems in their lives for many, many years before they come to the streets," she told the Canadian Press.

More than 40 per cent of those enrolled in the study had high levels of depression, and "many have already attempted suicide several times in their lives, even before arriving on the street," she said.