Drowning

An analysis of the changes over time for the lowest (most disadvantaged) and highest (least disadvantaged) socioeconomic groups for Unintentional drowning deaths is shown in Figure 3.5. Over the period from 2009–10 to 2015–16, rates of unintentional drowning deaths in the lowest (most disadvantaged) group ranged from 1.3 to 2.3 times as high, annually, as rates in the highest (least disadvantaged) group.

Rates of deaths decreased over time for both the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups. For the lowest (most disadvantaged) group, rates of deaths decreased from 1.6 to 1.2 deaths per 100,000 between 2009–10 and 2015–16. The drop in the modelled rate averaged 4.7% per year and was statistically significant. For the highest (least disadvantaged) group, rates of deaths decreased from 1.0 to 0.8 deaths per 100,000 between 2009–10 and 2015–16. The drop in the modelled rate averaged 3.7% per year, but was not statistically significant.

Figure 3.5: Modelled age-standardised rates of Unintentional drowning deaths, by lowest and highest socioeconomic groups, Australia, 2009–10 to 2015–16

Line chart showing deaths per 100,000 population for 7 years

Notes

  1. The solid lines represent the modelled rates from 2009–10 to 2015–16. The filled symbols represent the observed age-standardised rate value for each year.
  2. Data underpinning this figure can be found in Table S29 in the supplementary tables spreadsheet.

An analysis of Unintentional drowning death rates, by age group, over the 7-year period reveals variation by age in both the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups. Figure 3.6 shows the average annual percentage change in rate of deaths for 6 age groups within the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups.

For those in the lowest (most disadvantaged) socioeconomic group, rates of injury deaths decreased over the period from 2009–10 to 2015–16 for all but children aged 5–14. The largest average annual decrease per year in this socioeconomic group (13.2%) was for children aged 0–4. None of the average annual changes in rates were statistically significant for any age group.

For those in the highest (least disadvantaged) socioeconomic group, rates of injury deaths decreased in the 4 oldest age groups over the period. The largest average annual decrease in this group was for those aged 65 and over (7.8%). As with the lowest (most disadvantaged) group, none of the average annual changes in rates were statistically significant for any age group. Results for children aged 0–14 in the highest (least disadvantaged) group were not shown, due to low case numbers.

Figure 3.6: Average annual percentage change in rates of Unintentional drowning deaths, by lowest and highest socioeconomic groups, by age group, Australia, 2009–10 to 2015–16

Bar chart showing annual per cent change for 6 age groups

Notes

  1. Age-specific rates are standardised using populations by socioeconomic status groups, which do not include persons in areas for which the socioeconomic status could not be determined.
  2. The average annual change in rates of unintentional drowning deaths was not statistically significant (p < 0.05) in any of the age groups, for both the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups.
  3. Data underpinning this figure can be found in Table S30 in the supplementary tables spreadsheet.