Fatal river drowning: the identification of research gaps through a systematic literature review.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional death. Rivers are a common location for drowning. Unlike other location-specific prevention efforts (home swimming pools and beaches), little is known about prevention targeting river drowning deaths.

Methods

A systematic literature review was undertaken using English language papers published between 1980 and 2014, exploring gaps in the literature, with a focus on epidemiology, risk factors and prevention strategies for river drowning.

Results

Twenty-nine papers were deemed relevant to the study design including 21 (72.4%) on epidemiology, 18 (62.1%) on risk factors and 10 (34.5%) that proposed strategies for prevention. Risk factors identified included age, falls into water, swimming, using watercraft, sex an

SUBMITTER: Peden AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4893118 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature