Unintentional drowning in urban South Africa: a retrospective investigation, 2001–2005

Abstract

Drowning is a major public health concern in low- and middle-income countries. In South Africa there is sound information and an emerging knowledge base for drowning prevention. However, there remains a scarcity of analyses of drowning in the country. The purpose of this analysis was to quantify the magnitude and describe occurrence of unintentional drowning deaths in five major South African cities, recorded between 2001 and 2005 by the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System. Drowning in South African cities occurred at rates of between 1.4 and 2.7/100,000 population. The majority of drowning occurred among males, while the highest rates were observed among 0–4 year olds. Most drowning deaths occurred during recreational periods, over weekends and in the afternoon. Of adult drowning victims, 41.5% were alcohol-positive at the time of death. This study is based on one of only two known systematic sources of drowning mortality in Africa. It provides an indication of drowning rates in South African cities with young children and males at considerably more risk. The most likely locations for drowning varied from city to city. Among adult victims, especially men, alcohol is an important risk factor.

Keywords:

• unintentional drowning
• South Africa
• urban
• retrospective
• drowning rates

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participating forensic pathology departments and the NIMSS project team for their efforts in the registration and management of the data used in this study, in particular Ms Karin Pretorius for her technical support. The authors also thank Ms Kharnita Mohamed for her valuable editorial assistance.

Notes

1. In South Africa, the terms ‘white', ‘black', ‘coloured' (referring to mixed heritage) and ‘Asian' refer to the apartheid classifications of various population groups (see also the ‘Results' section). The use of these terms is contentious. These categories are recognised as a social construction that has served particular political purposes and it is not implied that such categories have any anthropological or scientific basis. The terms are used in this article to reflect the differential manner in which earlier policies of racial segregation, or apartheid, has impacted on the life experiences of the various population groups.