Drowning in Disparities: Health Equity in Ohio Childhood Drowning Rates

Background: Drowning, a common unintentional injury, is a leading cause of death among children in the United States. The morbidity and mortality of childhood drowning are not uniform across American society but, rather, subject to profound racial disparities. These inequities are reflected in Ohio's pediatric drowning rates. Methods: Data from the 2015-2020 Franklin County Child Fatality Report and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) database were synthesized with information from the 2020 US Census to calculate standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) comparing observed drowning deaths among Black children in the state of Ohio to expected deaths based on national data. The SMRs were additionally calculated for Franklin County, Ohio, and compared to state and national rates. Results: Standardized mortality ratios show that Black children in Franklin County were 21% more likely to drown than expected based on Ohio state rates and 41% more likely to drown than expected based on national rates between 2015 and 2020. Black children in the state of Ohio were 16% more likely to drown than expected based on national data during this time frame. Conclusion: Existing inequalities in childhood drowning rates are rooted in historical racism. This legacy has resulted in significantly higher drowning rates among Black American children and, alarmingly, higher-than-expected rates in Ohio specifically. Understanding these disparities is crucial to protecting vulnerable members of our communities from these avoidable tragedies. Interventions should account for social determinants of health, including race and ethnicity, when attempting to decrease pediatric drowning rates.