Unintentional drowning deaths in the United States, 1999-2010

This report provides recent findings on unintentional drowning deaths in the United States. Children under 5 years of age and adults aged 85 and over had the highest risk of drowning, although the rates for these age groups reached their lowest point in 2010. Drowning death rates decreased over time for all age groups except for adults aged 45–84. Drowning remained the second leading cause of death from unintentional injury for girls aged 1–4 years. For boys aged 1–4 years, unintentional drowning has been the leading cause of death from unintentional injury since 2005. Patterns of drowning by place differed by sex and age. More than one-half of all drowning deaths for males occurred in natural water compared with only one-quarter of all drowning deaths for females. Drowning was most likely to occur in the bath tub for infants under the age of 1 year and for adults aged 85 and over, in swimming pools for children aged 1–4 years, and in natural water for persons aged 5–84 years. These findings are consistent with the results from previous studies. Although the percentage of drowning occurring in some locations changed slightly over time, the pattern of drowning in particular locations by sex and age remained the same.