Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Drownings

As a follow up to the post about racial disparities in traffic deaths, let me mention the article in the April 2006 American Journal of Public Health (by Saluja et al.) about swimming pool drownings. The study for 5-24 year olds showed that 47% of those drowned were Black. The place of most drownings varied by race/ethnicity: for Black victims - public pools; for White victims - residential pools; for Hispanic victims - neighborhood pools (such as apartment complexes). 75% of all those drowned were male.

I have worked in maternal and child health where racial/ethnic disparities have diminished but still persist. The African-American infant mortality rate is at least double the White rate and the rates of low and very low birthweight for African-Americans are quite high. Prenatal health programs show slow improvements. Michael Lu, M.D. developed the life cycle theory as an explanation. There is a a biological basis (not genetic or DNA-based). That is, a low birthweight baby has received enough stress by the day she is born that she is already at risk for giving birth herself to a low birthweight baby. The work of changing the risk is necessarily slow and complex. Racism is a stress by itself as well as other factors such as poverty, violence, and poor access to the health care system.

Yet even without any biological consideration at all, racial/ethnic disparities seem to exist for every, or so many, areas from drowning to traffic accidents. Being aware of racial/ethnic differences and social factors is imperative in improving public health. Saluja et al. conclude: "Targeted interventions are needed to reduce the incidence of swimming pool drownings across racial/ethnic groups."