ReviewResuscitation plus2021
An underappreciated cause of ocean-related fatalities: A systematic review on the epidemiology, risk factors, and treatment of snorkelling-related drowning.
Review in Resuscitation plus, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Measuring the Swimming Skills of Adults Attending Swimming Lessons in Australia as a Drowning Prevention Measure.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025Article
- Toward a hyperventilation detection system in freediving: a proof of concept using force sensor technology.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Article
- A systematic review of demographic and background factors associated with the development of children's aquatic competence.Injury epidemiology · 2023Review
- Effects of hyperventilation on oxygenation, apnea breaking points, diving response, and spleen contraction during serial static apneas.European journal of applied physiology · 2023Article
- A systematic review of interventions for resuscitation following drowning.Resuscitation plus · 2023Review
- The link between medical conditions and fatal drownings in Canada: a 10-year cross-sectional analysis.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimSnorkelling is a popular aquatic activity which may result in fatal and non-fatal drowning. However, little is known about the scale of injury, factors impacting risk and strategies for prevention. This review assesses the current literature on snorkelling-related drowning with the aim of assessing available data, improving safety recommendations and reducing the global mortality burden.
methodsA systematic review of peer-reviewed literature in English, Spanish and Portuguese language published between 1 January 1980 and 31 October 2020 was conducted using the PRISMA guidelines. CINAHL Complete, Embase, Medline (Ovid), PubMed, SafetyLit, SportDiscus and grey literature were searched to identify studies reporting the incidence of fatal and non-fatal snorkelling-related drowning, or associated risk factors, prevention strategies, treatments or casualty characteristics. Quality was assessed using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool.
resultsForty-three studies were included (26 reporting population data, 17 case series), of which 27 (62.8%) studies reported data from Australia. Incidence was reported as about 8% of total ocean-related drownings. Case series documented 144 fatalities over 17 years. Frequent casualty characteristics include male (82.6%), pre-existing heart disease (59.4%), tourists (73%) who were inexperienced (71.0%), and lack of a buddy system (89.6%). Two at-risk profiles identified were older adult tourists with pre-existing medical conditions and local, experienced spearfishers. Twenty-two expert recommendations were developed to improve the safety of snorkellers related to individuals, tourism companies, government agencies and diving organisations.
conclusionSnorkelling-related drownings are not infrequent, and there are many opportunities to improve the safety of this activity based on available data.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.