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. 2019 Sep 25;55(10):637. doi: 10.3390/medicina55100637

Table 3.

Studies discussing potential risk factors for drowning among all age groups in Africa.

Authors, Reference, Year Country Study Population Proportions or Rates of Potential Risk Factors Potential Risk Factors/Risk Factors Identified
Davis and Smith, 1982 [33] South Africa (Cape Town) 1,500,000 people Alcohol
Knobel et al., 1984 [28] South Africa 3248 children < 15 years Race Race: whites
Coloured 10.7%
White 16.1%
Black 7.9%
Gender Male
Male 11.7%
Female 9.7%
Age
<1 year 6.9% Age: 6–14
1–5 years 12.8%
6–14 years 20.3% Summer season
Weekends
Davis and Smith 1985 [24] South Africa (Cape Town) 1,600,000 people Race Race: Black race for adults >30 years
Black race 32.3/100,000 White race for children 0–5 years
Colored 24.2/100,000 Male
White 13.4/100,000
Gender
Male 38.7/100,000
Female 8.3/100,000
Age Age: 21–30
0–5 years 13.3%
6–10 years 5.8%
11–15 years 4.9%
16–20 years 10.98%
21–30 years 25.14% Summer season
31–40 years 15.61% Swimming pools
>40 years 24.28% Alcohol
Grainger 1985 [60] Seychelles 119 drowning deaths Age Age: 40–49 years
0–9 years 6.72% Epilepsy
10–19 years 13.44% Head injury
20–29 years 16.8% Time of day: 12–2 pm
30–39 years 18.5%
40–49 years 21.8%
50–59 years 12.6%
60–69 years 5.88%
70+ years 4.2%
Gender
Male 109 deaths Male
Female 10 deaths
Kibel et al., 1990 [31] South Africa 14,118 children under 15 years of age (injuries related death) Age Age: 1–4 years
<1year 7.4%
1–4 years 23.0%
5–14 years 20.1%
Race <1 year White race for children <1 year to 4 years
Blacks 6.7% Black race for children aged 5–14 years
Whites 9.5% Site:
Coloured 8.3% Swimming pools for white children
Asians 6.4% Dams and rivers for older black children
1–4 years
Blacks 18.8%
Whites 42.7%
Coloured 22.1%
Asians 9.4%
5–14 years
Blacks 21.9%
Whites 12.7%
Coloured 21.2%
Asians 9.4%
Flisher et al., 1992 [42] South Africa 9288 adolescent deaths due to external causes Race 10–14 years Age: 10–14 years
Whites 6.3% Black race for adolescents 10–14 years old
Coloured 25.2% Asian race for adolescents 15–19 years old
Asians 12.7% Summer season
Black 24.2%
Race 15–19 years
Whites 4.2%
Coloured 9.7%
Asians 12.5%
Black 6.3%
Lerer et al., 1997 [32] South Africa (Cape Town) 3690 non-natural mortality Age Number of drowning deaths Age: 0–14 years
0–14 years: 35
15–24 years: 10
25–34 years 16
35–44 years 16
45–54 years 12
55–64 years 3
65–74 years 1
75+ years 3
Kobusingye et al., 2001 [55] Uganda (Mukono district) 34 fatal injuries Age % of drowning Age: 10–39 years
<10 years 0% Extensive water surface
10–19 years 18%
20–29 years 18%
30–39 years 18%
40–49 years 0%
>50 years 0%
Moshiro et al., 2001 [59] Tanzania 1478 deaths due to injuries all age groups Female gender/100,000 population Females;
Dar es Salaam Hai District Morogoro 0–4 years (across the three districts)
0–4 years 7.0 17.1 6.9
5–14 years 2.2 5.0 6.0 Males:
15–59 years 5.2 3.0 4.2 Dar es Salaam: 15–59 years
60+ years 2.8 4.6 Hai District: 0–4 years
Morogoro: 60 years and above
Male gender/100,000 population
Dar es Salaam Hai District Morogoro
0–4 years 3.4 12.3 12.1
5–14 years 4.9 9.0 3.6
15–59 years 12.4 10.6 7.9
60+ years 8.5 16.1
Meel BL, 2008 [27] South Africa (Mthatha) 405 drowning deaths Male Female Male
1–10 years 23.4% 6.9% Age: 1–20 years
11–20 years 15.2% 9.2%
21–30 years 9.8% 4.7%
31–40 years 11.3% 2.8%
41–50 years 5.0% 1.3%
51–60 years 3.8% 0.6%
61+ years 3.1% 2.5%
Burrows et al., 2010 [35] South Africa 2923 injury deaths of children aged 0–14 years Drowning rate per 100,000
Gender
Female 2.1 Buffalo City
Male 5.3
Male
Population group
Asian 0.9
White 4.3
Coloured 2.0
African 4.3 African
City
Tshwane 2.9
Cape Town 2.2
Johannesburg 4.2
eThekwini 3.8
Nelson Mandela 3.7
Buffalo City 9.2
Ohene et al., 2010 [46] Ghana (Accra) 151 injury related deaths among adolescents aged 10–19 years Gender Male
Female 25%
Male 44%
Age
10–14 years 46% Age: 10–14 years
15–19 years 33%
Garrib et al., 2011 [40] South Africa 1022 injury related deaths Age Children aged 0–15 years
0–15 years 65%
>15 years 35%
Gender (rate/100,000 person years)
Male 6.2 Male
Female 3.4
Mamady et al., 2012 [58] Guinea 7066 fatal injuries Female Ref
Male OR 2.8; 95% CI (2.3–3.5)
0–4 years Ref
5–14 years OR 2.0; 95% CI (1.1–3.5)
15–24 years OR 8.9; 95% CI (5.3–15.0)
25–64 years OR 7.0; 95% CI (4.2–11.7)
65+ years OR 7.9; 95% CI (4.4–14.3)
Seleye-Fubara et al., 2012 [50] Nigeria (Niger-delta region) 85 drowning deaths Alcohol
Hard drugs
Epilepsy
Donson and Nickerk, 2013 [25] South Africa 1648 drowning deaths Age (rate/100,000)
0–4 years 6.3 0–4-year age group
5–14 years 2.2
15–29 years 1.7 Swimming pools
30–44 years 1.8
45–59 years 1.4 Alcohol use
60+ years 1.2
Gender (rate/100,000) December
Male 3.4
Female 0.9 Male
Odhiambo et al., 2013 [57] Kenya 11,147 adult deaths due to trauma Gender
Female 13% Male
Male 87%
Age
<40 years 83% Young adults (<40 years of age)
>40 years 17%
Weldearegawi et al., 2013 [45] Ethiopia (Kilite Awlaelo surveillance site) 409 deceased Gender Male
Female 1.7%
Male 2.9%
Chasimpha et al., 2015 [48] Malawi (Karonga district) 59,947 people (children and adults) in Karonga district Children from fishing households OR 3.07; 95% CI (1.03–9.10) ‡
Adult male with fishing as a source of income OR 2.45; 95% CI (1.17–5.14) ‡
Adult males who are fishermen OR 2.92; 95% CI (1.42–5.98) ‡
Adult females who have other occupations OR 4.04; 95% CI (1.22–13.4) ‡
Joanknecht et al., 2015 [30] South Africa (Cape Town) 75 children admitted for a submersion incident Public pools and the ocean for children older than 5 years of age
Private pools, baths and buckets for children less than 5 years
Matzopoulos et al., 2015 [36] South Africa 52,493 injury related deaths Gender (rate/100,000 population) Male
Female 1.2
Male 5.7
Pretorius and Niekerk, 2015 [33] South Africa (Guateng) 5404 fatal injuries in children aged 0–19 years Age
0–1 year 9.4% Age: 2–3 years
13.4% 2–3 years 16.8%
4–6 years 13..4%
7–12 years 13.1%
13–19 years 3.0%
Mathews et al., 2016 [37] South Africa (Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal) 711 child deaths Age
<1 year 1.1% Age: 1–4 years
1–4 years 5.8%
5–14 years 5.0%
15–17 years 1.9%
Morris et al., 2016 [26] South Africa (Pretoria) 346 deaths due to external causes Gender
Female 21% Male
Male 79%
Race
Black 71% Black race
White 24%
Coloured 4%
Asian 1%
Age Age >18 years
<1 year 15%
1–2 years 19% Summer months (December to February)
2–13 years 18% Alcohol
13–18 years 3% Swimming pool
>18 years 45%
Kobusingye et al., 2017 [54] Uganda (Buikwe; Kampala; Mukono; Wakiso) 2804 people (population in the community) Access to water bodies (for transportation or fishing)
Overloading
Stormy weather
Old age of boats
Meel BL, 2017 [34] South Africa 24,693 deaths due to unnatural causes Gender Female
Female 6.07%
Male 4.8%
Gelaye et al., 2018 [44] Ethiopia 623 injury related deaths Gender Female
Female 22% No formal education (illiterates)
Male 21.1%
Saunders et al., 2018 [43] South Africa (Western Cape) 1391 drowning deaths Age (rate/100,000 population) Age: 0–19 years
Children (0–19 years) 3.8
Adults (20+ years) 3.0
Gender (rate /100,000 population)
Female 1.2 Male
Male 5.3 Access to large open bodies of water
Summer season (December, January, February)
Ossei et al., 2019 [47] Ghana 1470 unnatural deaths Age Age: 0–9 years
≤9 years 40%
10–19 years 17.14%
20–29 years 17.14%
30–39 years 10.48%
40–49 years 6.67%
50–59 years 3.81%
60–69 years 2.86%
≥70 years 1.90%
Gender Male
Female 22.9%
Male 77.1%

‡ Risk factors for external death, which also applies to drowning.