Drowning in Uganda: examining data from administrative sources

Abstract

Background: Drowning death rates in the African region are estimated to be the highest in the world. Data collection and surveillance for drowning in African countries are limited. We aimed to establish the availability of drowning data in multiple existing administrative data sources in Uganda and to describe the characteristics of drowning based on available data.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective descriptive study in 60 districts in Uganda using existing administrative records on drowning cases from January 2016 to June 2018 in district police offices, marine police detachments, fire/rescue brigade detachments, and the largest mortuary in those districts. Data were systematically deduplicated to determine and quantify unique drowning cases.

Results: A total of 1435 fatal and non-fatal drowning cases were recorded; 1009 (70%) in lakeside districts and 426 (30%) in non-lakeside districts. Of 1292 fatal cases, 1041 (81%) were identified in only one source. After deduplication, 1283 (89% of recorded cases; 1160 fatal, 123 non-fatal) unique drowning cases remained. Data completeness varied by source and variable. When demographic characteristics were known, fatal victims were predominantly male (n=876, 85%), and the average age was 24 years. In lakeside districts, 81% of fatal cases with a known activity at the time of drowning involved boating.

Conclusion: Drowning cases are recorded in administrative sources in Uganda; however, opportunities to improve data coverage and completeness exist. An improved understanding of circumstances of drowning in both lakeside and non-lakeside districts in Uganda is required to plan drowning prevention strategies.

Keywords: drowning; epidemiology; low-middle income country; mortality; surveillance.

Figure 1

Map of Uganda identifying the 60 districts selected for data collection and the largest lakes.

Figure 2

Overlap of 1160 unique fatal drowning cases found in district police, marine police, fire/rescue brigade and mortuary records in 60 districts, January 2016–June 2018, Uganda. Ten cases were duplicated within the same source type (one across district police offices in different districts, nine across different marine police detachments); duplication within source types is not reflected. Figure developed using tool available at: http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/webtools/Venn/.