Epidemiology of drowning in children in a Western region of Romania

P. Marian, C. Pantiș, M. C. Șomlea, B. Hanganu, A. A. Hleșcu, I. S. Manoilescu, F. Sandoiu, C. Crișan, C. Sava,

Abstract: Drowning is a major, but often neglected global public health problem, representing the third leading cause of death from unintentional injury, with the higher prevalence in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).In this paper the authors present the results of a retrospective study which aimed at analysing the epidemiological aspects of drowning in children from the Crisana region. Our study demonstrated that the children most exposed to drowning were boys aged over 5, from rural areas, with poor socio-economic and cultural background, unattended and without the ability to swim. The results of the study also show that young males who are unsupervised in rural areas and have limited formal swimming instruction are at greatest risk of drowning in small bodies of water around their homes. The results of our study could be useful in designing the most suitable preventive methods for drowning, starting from the methods already provided in the literature.
Keywords: drowning, children, epidemiology, forensic medicine.