PRESS RELEASE: Australians Aged 65+ Are Most Likely To Die From Drowning
Analysis of 272 drowning deaths in Australia reveals that elderly Australians have a greater risk of death from drowning than any other cohort, at 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – 14 FEBRUARY 2024: Australians aged 65 and over have the highest likelihood of dying from drowning, according to a new study by Pool Advisor.
The analysis also found that drownings make up 2% of all injury deaths across the population, but 36% of all injury deaths for children aged 0-4.
Complete Results: https://pooladvisor.com.au/research/drowning-statistics-australia
This study involved Pool Advisor analysing 272 drowning deaths in Australia in 2020-21, and 515 drowning hospitalisations in 2021-22, as reported to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Factors such as gender, age, drowning type, and location were analysed.
Impact of old age: Australians aged 65 and over are 50% more likely to die from drowning than any other age group, at a rate of 1.8 drowning deaths per 100,000 people.
Impact of young age: Drownings make up 2% of all injury deaths across the population, but 36% of all injury deaths for children aged 0-4.
Impact of drowning location: Swimming pools are the location of 39% of drowning deaths for children aged 0-4, compared to 12% for the general population.
Impact of gender: Males are more than 4 times as likely as females to die from drowning, making up 80.1% of all deaths.
Impact of urban vs regional vs remote: Australians outside major cities are twice as likely to die from drowning.
Impact of socio-economic status: Australians in the lowest socio-economic quintile are 150% more likely to die from drowning than those in the top quintile.
Hospitalisations vs deaths: There were 272 deaths from drowning in 2020-21, and 515 hospitalisations from drowning in 2021-22. Drownings make up just 0.1% of injury hospitalisations, but 2% of all injury deaths.
Hospital stay length: Drowning hospitalisations result in an average of a 2.7 day stay in hospital.
Intensive care: Of all drowning hospitalisations, 7.6% required a stay in ICU, and 6.7% required continuous ventilatory support.
Deaths in hospital: Of drowning hospitalisations, 1.7% of patients died while in hospital.
“On a population basis, drowning deaths and hospitalisations have declined slowly over the last decade or so, which is good to see. However, we need to remain vigilant, particularly with swimming pool safety and compliance, as we progress towards our goal of no longer losing any children to drowning,” Pool Advisor founder Louis Fredheim said.
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Fair Use: Feel free to quote any of the statistics, or use any of the charts in the study in your own work, as long as you provide attribution in the form of a link back to the study.
About Pool Advisor
Pool Advisor helps tens of thousands of Australians take care of their swimming pools and spas each month. By demystifying pool maintenance and water chemistry, we empower swimming pool owners to take care of their own pools with ease.
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Contact Information:
Name: Louis Fredheim
Company: Pool Advisor
Email: [email protected]
Address: 1228 Sandgate Road, Nundah QLD 4012 Australia
Phone: (07) 3130 0298
Website: https://pooladvisor.com.au/
