Wintemute G J, Kraus J F, Teret S P, Wright M A
Department of Family Practice, University of California, Davis, Sacramento 95817.
Am J Prev Med. 1988 Nov-Dec;4(6):343-8.
Previous epidemiological studies of drowning in the United States have dealt primarily with children. The epidemiology and prevention of drowning in adulthood may be very different. To test this general hypothesis, we analyzed the 293 drownings occurring among Sacramento County residents 20 years of age and above during 1974 to 1985. Drowning rates were highest for men 20-29 years of age (11.5 per 100,000 population) and blacks (7.5 per 100,000 population). Swimmers, boaters, and motor vehicle occupants were most frequently represented. Alcohol use was involved in 48% of cases overall and 77% of those involving motor vehicle occupants. A history of seizure disorder was another contributing factor. Important differences do exist in drowning epidemiology between children and adults. Our results suggest that preventing drowning will be more problematic among adults than among children. The study was also used to test the sensitivity of two commonly used methods of case ascertainment for cases in Sacramento County. A manual review of coroner's records had a sensitivity of 96%. A computerized review of death certificate data from the state's vital statistics data base had a sensitivity of 79%. The sources and implications of these differences are discussed.
此前美国关于溺水的流行病学研究主要针对儿童。成年人溺水的流行病学特征及预防措施可能大不相同。为验证这一普遍假设，我们分析了1974年至1985年间萨克拉门托县20岁及以上居民发生的293起溺水事件。20至29岁男性（每10万人中有11.5人溺水）和黑人（每10万人中有7.5人溺水）的溺水率最高。游泳者、乘船者和机动车驾乘人员溺水的情况最为常见。总体而言，48%的溺水事件涉及饮酒，而在涉及机动车驾乘人员的溺水事件中，这一比例为77%。癫痫病史是另一个促成因素。儿童和成人溺水的流行病学特征确实存在重要差异。我们的研究结果表明，预防成人溺水比预防儿童溺水更具挑战性。该研究还用于测试萨克拉门托县两种常用病例确诊方法的敏感性。对验尸官记录进行人工审查的敏感性为96%。对该州人口动态统计数据库中的死亡证明数据进行计算机审查的敏感性为79%。文中讨论了这些差异的来源及影响。
