Bathtub drowning mortality among older adults in Japan

We examined the bathtub drowning mortality among older adults in Japan. Mortality data from Japan and 30 other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries were extracted from World Health Organization Cause of Death Query Online. During 2012-2014, unintentional drowning mortality rates in Japan were 9.5, 28.2 and 39.7 per 100,000 population for adults aged 65-74, 75-84 and ≥85 years, respectively-rates highest among the 31 OECD countries. In total, 6377 older adults aged ≥65 years died from unintentional drowning in 2014, of which 4857 (76%) deaths involved bathtubs. During 1995-2014, the bathtub drowning mortality rate for adults aged ≥65 years was stable in Japan. During 2011-2014, approximately 4800 older adults died from bathtub drowning annually. Death predominantly occurred 'while in a bathtub', rather than 'following a fall into a bathtub'. In 2014, 95% and 87% of bathtub drowning deaths among older women and men aged ≥65 years, respectively, occurred at home. In conclusion, bathtub drowning deaths at home is an important public health problem among older adults Japanese and efforts are needed to reduce these preventable deaths.