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Original research
Burden of fatal drowning in California, 2005–2019
  1. William Koon1,2,
  2. Orion Stewart3,
  3. Robert Brander1,
  4. Linda Quan4,
  5. Amy E Peden5
  1. 1School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2California Water Safety Coalition, Huntington Beach, California, USA
  3. 3Center for Healthy Communities, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, California, USA
  4. 4Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
  5. 5School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  1. Correspondence to William Koon, School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; w.koon{at}unsw.edu.au

Abstract

Objective To characterise risk factors for fatal drowning in California, USA to inform priorities for prevention, policy and research.

Methods This retrospective population-based epidemiological review of death certificate data evaluated fatal drowning events in California from 2005 to 2019. Unintentional, intentional, and undetermined drowning deaths and rates were described by person (age, sex, race) and context-based variables (region and body of water).

Results California’s fatal drowning rate was 1.48 per 100 000 population (n=9237). Highest total fatal drowning rates occurred in the lower population density northern regions, among older adults (75–84 years: 2.54 per 100 000 population; 85+: 3.47 per 100 000 population) and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native persons (2.84 per 100 000 population). Male drowning deaths occurred at 2.7 times the rate of females; drowning deaths occurred mainly in swimming pools (27%), rivers/canals (22.4%) and coastal waters (20.2%). The intentional fatal drowning rate increased 89% during the study period.

Conclusions California’s overall fatal drowning rate was similar to the rest of the USA but differed among subpopulations. These divergences from national data, along with regional differences in drowning population and context-related characteristics, underscore the need for state and regional level analyses to inform drowning prevention policy, programmes and research.

  • drowning
  • public health
  • descriptive epidemiology

Data availability statement

No data are available. Supporting data are not available due to ethical/legal restrictions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip-2023-044862

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    Data availability statement

    No data are available. Supporting data are not available due to ethical/legal restrictions.

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @w_a_koon, @amyepeden

    • Contributors WK led study conceptualisation with input from AEP and LQ. WK conducted data analysis with input from OS and AEP. WK drafted the manuscript with input from OS, RB, LQ and AEP. All authors were involved in subsequent edits and revisions, and approved the submitted version. WK is responsible for the overall content as gaurantor.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Disclaimer The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the California Department of Public Health or the California Health and Human Services Agency.

    • Competing interests WK is a board member of the California Water Safety Coalition.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.