title: Child drowning deaths in Aydin province, western Turkey, 2002-2012.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Drowning, a major public health problem worldwide, occurs as an accident, suicide, or homicide. Deaths with an accidental origin are common in childhood in the 0-18 age group. In our study, pediatric drowning cases for whom a postmortem examination and an autopsy were conducted by Adnan Menderes University Department of Forensic Medicine were evaluated. The characteristics were determined and compared with domestic and foreign studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 39 cases in the 0-18 age group in Aydın between 2002 and 2012 were analyzed regarding age, gender, cause of death, origin, the accident scene, and the month in which the death occurred.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the drowning cases, 33 (84.6 %) were male, and 6 (15.4 %) were female. The average age was 9.08 years, and drowning is most common in the 0-4 age group (33.3 %). The scene of the accident was an irrigation channel in 43.5 % of the cases, a river in 15.3 %, a sea in 12.8 %, a pool in 10.2 %, and a lake or pond in 7.69 %.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Drowning deaths are a serious and preventable public health problem worldwide. There are strong correlations among lack of adult supervision, lack of precautions, and neglect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, 09100, Turkey. musadirlik@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dirlik
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Justice, Forensic Science Institute, Antakya, Hatay, Turkey.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bostancıoğlu
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004332:Drowning / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012621:Seasons; D063507:Sexism; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Autopsy; Children; Deaths; Drowning