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Status of drowning in Nepal: A study of central police data

Sedain, Bhagabati; Pant, Puspa Raj

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Authors

Bhagabati Sedain



Abstract

Background: Drowning is a serious and mostly preventable injury-related cause of death. Low-and-middle income countries represent 90% of total drowning deaths worldwide. There is lack of epidemiological studies of drowning in Nepal. The aim of this paper is to describe the status of drowning in Nepal. Methods: Cases of drowning, occurring between January 2013 and December 2015 were extracted from the Daily Incident Recording System of Nepal Police. Variables on age, sex of the deceased, types of water bodies, places, season when drowning occurred and activities of deceased were extracted and descriptive analysis was done. Results: A total of 1,507 drowning cases were recorded over a 3 year period. The rate of drowning was 1.9 per 100,000 (2.95 for males and 0.92 for females). Majority of drowning occurred among males (76%) and more than half were (53%) under 20 years of age. Mostly drowning occurred in rivers (natural water bodies). The findings provide strong indication that drowning occurs throughout the year in Nepal. Children were highly vulnerable to drowning. The magnitude of drowning was found to be lower than estimated by global burden of disease (GBD) study. Conclusion: The burden of drowning in Nepal is considerable, but mostly unknown to the public. Despite only having access to a limited data source, this study provides useful evidence that comprehensive research in Nepal is needed urgently.

Citation

Sedain, B., & Pant, P. R. (2018). Status of drowning in Nepal: A study of central police data. F1000Research, 7, 576. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.14563.1

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 23, 2018
Online Publication Date May 14, 2018
Publication Date Jan 1, 2018
Deposit Date May 21, 2018
Publicly Available Date May 21, 2018
Journal F1000Research
Electronic ISSN 2046-1402
Publisher F1000Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 7
Pages 576
DOI https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.14563.1
Keywords drowning, Nepal, public health, natural water bodies, injury prevention
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/870497
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.14563.1
Related Public URLs https://f1000research.com/articles/7-576/v1

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