Open AccessSelf‐reported water and drowning risk exposure at surf beaches
Author(s) -
Morgan Damian,
OzanneSmith Joan,
Triggs Tom
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2009.00367.x
Subject(s) - surf zone , rip current , confidence interval , shore , poison control , recreation , relative risk , current (fluid) , injury prevention , environmental science , demography , medicine , environmental health , oceanography , ecology , geology , biology , sociology
Objective:To document patterns of water exposure at surf beaches by gender and identify factors that predict bather confidence to return to shore if caught in a rip current.Method:Recreational surf beach bathers (N=406) provided self‐completed data on water exposure patterns, surf activity behaviours and potential drowning risk and protective factors.Results:Relative to females, males visited surf beaches more frequently, expected to spend longer in the water and in deeper water, and more often bathed after using alcohol (p<0.05). Confidence to return to shore if caught in a rip current was predicted by confidence to identify a rip current, self‐rated swimming ability, gender, times visited any beach, and age in a standard linear regression model (adjusted R 2 =0.68).Conclusion:The study supports explanations that high male drowning rates result from more frequent exposure to water than females at high situational risk levels.Implications:Controlled studies are required to determine the role in drowning of overconfidence, swimming ability, surf experience, floatation devices and response to sea conditions.