Water safety awareness, swimming ability and drowning prevention behaviour in Malaysian adolescents:: a sex-based analysis

This study explored water safety awareness, swimming ability and drowning prevention behaviour among Malaysian ado-lescents aged 13-17. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 525 secondary school students (278 boys and 247 girls) from five regions in Malaysia. Data collected through a self-administrated online survey (modified water safety and drowning prevention ques-tionnaire) using Google Form. Both sexesdemonstrated similar awareness levels of drowning dangers identification and water safety tasks and rules. Most of the respondents were categorised as non-swimmers. Notably, 57% of them could not swim while a quarter could swim less than 50 meters. Only 17% claimed adequate swimming ability. Boys demonstrated significantly higher swimming ability compared to girls, though girls reflected better safety practices with a lower risk in swimming: alone/unsupervised, in prohibited areas and in unknown water depth. These findings provide additional knowledge in educational policies to develop impactful lifelong drowning prevention programs in Malaysia.