Drowning deaths in West Bengal, India
A statewide community-based survey
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21880183 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jagnoor Jagnoor (0000-0002-5276-9095, The George Institute for Global Health), Sujoy Roy (0000-0002-5695-7894, Child in Need Institute, Kolkata, WB, India), Sujoy B Roy (0000-0003-2143-7124, Child In Need Institute), Suman Das (0000-0001-5043-8746, George Institute for Global Health), Soumyadeep Bhaumik (0000-0001-9579-4453, The George Institute for Global Health), Medhavi Gupta (0000-0002-6558-8373, George Institute for Global Health) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | e020760 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | BMJ Global Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2059-7908 • E-ISSN: 2059-7908 |
| Publisher | BMJ (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1136/bmjgh-2025-020760 |
| PMID | 41224368 |
| OpenAlex | W4416131704 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
INTRODUCTION: Drowning burdens in low- and middle-income contexts are underestimated, as current data collection systems gather inadequate data. We conducted one of the largest community-based surveys to date capturing fatal drowning data across age, gender and rurality, focusing on the state of West Bengal, India. METHODS: A resource-efficient community knowledge approach was used to conduct an observational community-based survey where meetings were held with community residents and key informants to identify drowning deaths in the population. Identified deaths were verified at the victim's household through a structured survey, inquiring on the circumstances around the drowning death. RESULTS: A fatal drowning rate of 9.17/100 000 was found across the state. Drownings were highest in children 1-4 years old (60.02/100 000), followed by 5-9 years (19.20/100 000). Males faced higher rates across all ages (11.82/100 000) compared with females (6.33/100 000). Rural areas faced significantly higher drowning rates than urban areas (12.52/100 000 and 1.19/100 000, respectively). About half of the events occurred in waterbodies near the victim's home. Most events occurred between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and were over-represented during the monsoon months of June to August. A minority of cases were administered appropriate resuscitation techniques or taken to formal healthcare providers, and only 16.1% of events were issued death certificates. CONCLUSIONS: The results illustrated how routine data collection systems in low-income settings grossly underestimate drowning events, emphasising the importance of community-based surveys in capturing true drowning burdens in India and low- and middle-income country contexts more broadly
Data collection · Injury prevention · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Injury Epidemiology and Prevention · Traffic and Road Safety · Urban Transport and Accessibility
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |