Primary or Secondary Drowning

NCT06310499 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: DROWN_COD
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 700
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

According to WHO's rules, any death certificate must state the underlying cause of death and contributory causes of death may also be stated. Differentiating between primary and secondary drowning is difficult, as information preceding the drowning incident is rarely available. Yet, knowing the most frequent causes of secondary drowning may provide useful information to healthcare professionals working in prehospital Emergency Medical Services, as this may affect prehospital treatment.

Conditions

Drowning; Drowning; Anoxia; Drowning, Near; Drowning in Swimming Pool; Drowning; Asphyxia; Drowning/Diving/SCUBA Accident; Drowning or Immersion of Unknown Intent; Drowning and Submersion, Undetermined Intent; Drowning and Submersion While in Bath-Tub; Drowning and Submersion While in Natural Water; Drowning and Submersion Due to Sailboat Sinking; Drowning and Submersion Due to Fall Off Ship; Drowning and Submersion While in Swimming-Pool

Keywords

Drowning; Epidemiology; Danish Prehospital Drowning Data; Danish Drowning Formula; Registry; Cohort; Autopsy; Cause of death; Death certificate; Database; Denmark; Utstein

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Autopsy rate

  Calculated as the number of autopsy reports divided by the number of fatal drowning incidents registered in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data.

  Data is extracted on patients registered in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data from 2016-2023.

• Primary fatal drowning rate

  Calculated as the number of autopsy reports stating drowning as the underlying cause of death divided by the number of fatal drowning incidents registered in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data.

  Data is extracted on patients registered in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data from 2016-2023.

• Secondary fatal drowning rate

  Calculated as the number of autopsy reports stating drowning as the contributory cause of death OR not stating drowning as a contributory cause of death divided by the number of fatal drowning incidents registered in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data.

  Data is extracted on patients registered in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data from 2016-2023.

Study Arms (2)

Primary fatal drowning

These patients are registered in the Danish Register of Causes of Death, with drowning as an underlying cause of death in the death certificate.

Other: Drowning

Secondary fatal drowning

These patients are registered in the Danish Register of Causes of Death, with drowning as a contributory cause of death or drowning not registered in the death certificate.

Other: Drowning

Interventions

Drowning OTHER

Drowning is defined as the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid.

Primary fatal drowning; Secondary fatal drowning

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The Danish Prehospital Drowning Data reports prehospital data on patients with fatal and non-fatal drowning treated by the Emergency Medical Services in Denmark since 2016. Drowning incidents are identified from the Danish Prehospital Electronic Medical Record using the Danish Drowning Formula and extensive manual validation. Data is extracted following the revised USFD. The patients' unique civil registration number enable linkage with the Civil Personal Register to obtain data on 30-day survival and differentiate between fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents

You may qualify if:

• All drowning patients registered in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data AND
• Having a fatal outcome within 30 days after the drowning incident AND
• Having a valid civil registration number in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data
• Being able to link data from the Danish Register of Causes of Death

You may not qualify if:

• Patients alive 30 days after the drowning incident
• Patients with an invalid civil registration number in the Danish Prehospital Drowning Data
• Patients where data cannot be retrieved from the Danish Register of Causes of Death

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Prehospital Center, Region Zealand: lead

Study Sites (1)

Prehospital Center

Næstved, Region Sjælland, 4700, Denmark

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Breindahl N, Wolthers SA, Jensen TW, Holgersen MG, Blomberg SNF, Steinmetz J, Christensen HC; Danish Cardiac Arrest Group. Danish Drowning Formula for identification of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest from drowning. Am J Emerg Med. 2023 Nov;73:55-62. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2023.08.024. Epub 2023 Aug 15.

  PMID: 37619443 BACKGROUND

• Helweg-Larsen K. The Danish Register of Causes of Death. Scand J Public Health. 2011 Jul;39(7 Suppl):26-9. doi: 10.1177/1403494811399958.

  PMID: 21775346 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Drowning; Hypoxia; Near Drowning; Asphyxia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Death; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Wounds and Injuries; Signs and Symptoms, Respiratory; Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Helle Collatz Christensen, Ass. Prof.

  Prehospital Center, Region Zealand

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 7, 2024
• First Posted: March 15, 2024
• Study Start: January 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Last Updated: August 27, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

DK (1)