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BACKGROUND: Drowning is the third-leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. There is a limited understanding of the financial and non-financial burden of drowning in Texas by population subgroups. This cross-sectional study quantified the burden of unintentional drowning in Texas by demographic subgroups and aquatic bodies. METHODS: Texas Health Care Information Collection data (2016-2022) were analysed to estimate direct medical costs (inpatient and outpatient costs), lifetime indirect costs (patient and caregiver productivity loss) and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) among hospitalised drowning patients in Texas. Costs and DALYs were stratified by demographic characteristics, discharge status and type of aquatic body. RESULTS: Among 2228 hospitalisations, paediatric patients, males and non-Hispanic whites accounted for most cases. Inpatient costs were highest for individuals aged 45-64 years (US74 435±143 931), fatal cases (US96 269±140 315) and bathtub drownings (US100 884±177 483), compared with other age groups, non-fatal cases and drownings in other aquatic bodies. Lifetime indirect costs totalled US266. 9 million for patients and US422. 2 million for caregivers. Drownings caused a considerable number of years of full health loss (27 445 DALYs), with the highest among children (19 610 DALYs) and individuals who drowned in swimming pools (9706 DALYs). CONCLUSIONS: Drowning constitutes a significant burden in Texas. Drowning countermeasures should be targeted at groups and locations most impacted by drowning.
Nguyen et al. (Tue,) studied this question.