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How well does a national newspaper reporting system profile drowning?
Philippe Lunetta1, Kati Tiirikainen, Gordon S Smith
1Injury Prevention Unit, Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, SF-00300 Helsinki, Finland. philippe.lunetta@helsinki.fi
International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion
|March 16, 2006
Summary
The Finnish Association for Swimming Instruction and Life Saving (SUH) database provides timely but underreported drowning data, while Statistics Finland (SF) offers more accurate but delayed information. A comprehensive national surveillance system is needed for effective drowning prevention.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Injury Prevention
Background:
- Finland collects nationwide unintentional drowning data from two primary sources: the Finnish Association for Swimming Instruction and Life Saving (SUH) and Statistics Finland (SF).
- The SUH database uses rapid newspaper clippings and police reports, while the SF database relies on comprehensive death certificate information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the Finnish Association for Swimming Instruction and Life Saving (SUH) and Statistics Finland (SF) databases for unintentional drowning data.
- To assess the SUH database's ability to characterize drowning events in Finland between 1998 and 2000.
Main Methods:
- Linking computerized death certificate data from Statistics Finland (SF) with the SUH database using deterministic methods.
- Comparing the number of identified unintentional drownings and analyzing discrepancies in reporting across different settings and regions.
Main Results:
- Statistics Finland identified 704 unintentional drownings (4.5/100,000/year), while SUH identified 567 (3.6/100,000/year).
- The SUH database missed 40.6% of drownings identified by SF, with underreporting particularly noted in specific locations (bath, ditch, pool) and circumstances (falls, traffic incidents).
- Narrative data in the SUH database offered limited detail for characterizing drowning events.
Conclusions:
- The SUH database offers more timely but less representative drowning data compared to the more accurate but delayed SF vital statistics.
- Both current data sources provide insufficient detail for in-depth drowning event analysis.
- A multidisciplinary national drowning surveillance system is essential for accurate, timely data collection, risk factor analysis, and effective prevention strategy development.