The role of alcohol and drug intoxication in fatal drowning and other deaths that occur on the Australian coast

Strasiotto, Luke; Ellis, Annabel; Daw, Shane; Lawes, Jasmin C.

doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2022.05.012

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…All studies focused on fatal unintentional drowning. The definition of alcohol involvement varied between studies, with five studies considering alcohol as contributory to drowning when the BAC was 0.05% (or 0.05 g/100 mL) or greater (the legal limit for driving in Australia and a level at which concentration, reaction times and risk-taking behaviour have been shown to be impacted [40]) [13,25,40,41,45], one study a BAC of 0.02% or greater (to account for the possibility of alcohol level to be artificially inflated by decomposition to a level of 0.02 g/100 mL) [44], and three studies using the presence of any alcohol to signify alcohol involvement [39,42,43]. This reflects the challenges in determining the level of BAC where alcohol can be assumed to have contributed to the drowning event [40] as well as the known artificial inflation of BAC by post-mortem decomposition [46].…”

Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One Australian study supplemented retrospective data with a cross-sectional survey to allow for adjustment by exposure [25]. The studies were conducted in Australia (n = 5) [13,25,[39][40][41], Canada (n = 1) [42], NZ (n = 1) [43], Sweden (n = 1) [44] and Finland (n = 1) [45]. Three studies were published in the last 5 years (since 2018) [13,25,41].…”

Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The studies were conducted in Australia (n = 5) [13,25,[39][40][41], Canada (n = 1) [42], NZ (n = 1) [43], Sweden (n = 1) [44] and Finland (n = 1) [45]. Three studies were published in the last 5 years (since 2018) [13,25,41]. All studies investigated population-level drowning (i.e., across all age groups) and presented results for young adults separately.…”

Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This reflects the challenges in determining the level of BAC where alcohol can be assumed to have contributed to the drowning event [40] as well as the known artificial inflation of BAC by post-mortem decomposition [46]. The prevalence of alcohol involvement in drowning deaths ranged from 8% of coastal drownings in 15-to 34-yearolds in Australia [41] up to 72% of deaths in 25-to 29-year-olds in Finland (where toxicological results were available) [45]. Two studies provided rates of unintentional drowning involving alcohol per 100,000 population, both finding a higher rate of fatality with alcohol involvement [25,42].…”

Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Young people's alcohol use in and around water: A scoping review of the literature

Carey,

Crawford,

Jancey

et al. 2024

Drug and Alcohol Review

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IssuesThe surrounding social and commercial context, including alcohol advertising, heavily influences alcohol consumption. Alcohol use is a major risk factor for both fatal and non‐fatal drowning, particularly for young people.ApproachWe conducted a scoping review to explore the peer‐reviewed literature on the use of alcohol by young people (aged 15–34 years) in the context of aquatic environments. Five electronic academic databases were searched for English‐language studies conducted in high‐income countries and published in the last 15 years (since 2008). The MetaQAT framework was used to assess methodological quality of included studies.Key FindingsThe review included a total of 24 studies, including those addressing the prevalence of and/or risk factors for alcohol use in aquatic environments among young people (n = 13); the epidemiology of alcohol‐related unintentional drowning in young people (n = 9); and interventions to reduce alcohol‐related harm around water (n = 3). Findings suggest that young people commonly consume alcohol around water, particularly young men. We found multiple influences on this behaviour, including the perception of risk, location of aquatic activity and presence of others, particularly peers.ImplicationsUnderstanding the literature addressing alcohol use around water among young people will assist in identifying and setting priorities for drowning prevention, including the need to mitigate the effects of alcohol advertising which promotes drinking in and around water.ConclusionThere is a clear imperative to address the use of alcohol by young people in aquatic environments. These findings have key implications for public health policy, advocacy and practice.

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Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Epidemiology Of Alcohol-related Unintentional Drowning In Yo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Young people's alcohol use in and around water: A scoping review of the literature

Carey,

Crawford,

Jancey

et al. 2024

Drug and Alcohol Review

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“…Another Australian study by Strasiotto et al (2022) on unintentional drowning reported that during 2004–2020 alcohol or drug intoxication contributed to 23% of coastal drowning deaths and 19% of other coastal fatalities. For drowning and other fatalities combined, 8.7% were due to alcohol, 8.7% due to drugs, and 4.1% due to both alcohol and drugs.…”

Section: Role Of Alcohol and Drugsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of postmortem toxicology in drowning investigations

Ojanperä,

Kriikku

2023

WIREs Forensic Science

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Drowning is the third most common cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. In forensic medicine, drowning refers to an event in which the victim dies due to liquid penetrating into the airways or due to submersion in a liquid. Medico‐legal examination of bodies found in water is a challenging task. Establishing proper cause and manner of death requires the joint efforts of the police, medical examiner, and representatives of postmortem toxicology. Information of the circumstances, the victim's individual characteristics and medical background, together with postmortem findings is required. The presence of alcohol and drugs revealed by postmortem toxicology can give insight into the decedent's medical history, drug abuse history, and possible impairment at the time of death. There is ample epidemiological research indicating that alcohol is the most important single contributing factor for fatal drowning, while hypno‐sedative medicines and illicit drugs, especially amphetamines, also appear to pose a risk. Evidence shows that alcohol can be produced postmortem in a submerged body by microbial contamination and fermentation, and this phenomenon is even more significant the higher the water temperature and the longer the submersion time. The reliability of the blood alcohol concentration obtained can be verified in many ways, for example by comparing the ratios of blood, vitreous and urine alcohol concentrations with reference values, or by testing for non‐oxidative ethanol metabolites, the presence of which suggests antemortem alcohol ingestion. Compared to alcohol postmortem changes, very little is known about the long‐term stability of drugs in bodies found in water.This article is categorized under: Toxicology > Analytical Toxicology > Post‐Mortem

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The characteristics of drowning among different types of international visitors to Australia and how this contributes to their drowning risk

Willcox-Pidgeon¹,

Miller²,

Leggat³

et al. 2023

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

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The role of alcohol and drug intoxication in fatal drowning and other deaths that occur on the Australian coast

Cited by 11 publications

References 93 publications

Young people's alcohol use in and around water: A scoping review of the literature

Young people's alcohol use in and around water: A scoping review of the literature

Role of postmortem toxicology in drowning investigations

The characteristics of drowning among different types of international visitors to Australia and how this contributes to their drowning risk

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