To ensure statistical stability in the calculation of percentages, we included only those countries with more than 20 reported unintentional drowning deaths thus, a total of 69 countries were included in the final analysis.
#Ivcd 10 for public raod code#
We excluded suicide by drowning (ICD-10 code X71), homicide by drowning (ICD-10 code X92), and cases of drowning of undetermined intent (ICD-10 code Y21), because no specific sub-categories exist for these codes in the ICD-10. The ICD-10 codes for unintentional drowning are W65-W74 (Table 1).
As of August 2009, 146 countries submitted mortality data to the WHO, of which 17 used only 3-character ICD-10 codes and 84 used 4-character ICD-10 codes.
#Ivcd 10 for public raod update#
The update from the Ninth Revision (ICD-9) to the Tenth Revision (ICD-10) entailed significant changes in the classification of unintentional drowning : the ICD-9 emphasised details regarding the nature of the recreational activity undertaken at the time of the event in contrast, the ICD-10 highlights details about the nature of the body of water (e.g., bathtub, swimming pool or natural water) and the mechanism of drowning (e.g., while in water versus following a fall into water) (Table 1).ĭata were extracted from the WHO mortality database for analysis.
Almost all countries collect, classify and tabulate cause-of-death data according to the same standard procedure (i.e., using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) published by the World Health Organization (WHO)). The systematic collection of high-quality mortality data about the environmental events and circumstances leading to a case of drowning is a prerequisite to designing relevant drowning prevention programmes. Conclusionĭespite the introduction of more specific subcategories for drowning in the ICD-10, many countries were found to be failing to report sufficiently specific codes in drowning mortality data submitted to the WHO.ĭrowning is an important but neglected global health issue. In 21 of the 56 countries that report 4-character codes, the percentage of unintentional drowning deaths for which the place of occurrence was unspecified at the 4 th character exceeded 50%, and in 15 countries, exceeded 90% in only 14 countries was this percentage lower than 10%. In 32 of the 69 countries studied, the percentage of cases of unintentional drowning coded as unspecified at the 3-character level exceeded 50%, and in 19 countries, this percentage exceeded 80% in contrast, the percentage was lower than 10% in only 10 countries. The proportion of unintentional drowning deaths coded as unspecified at the 3-character level (ICD-10 code W74) and for which the place of occurrence was unspecified at the 4 th character (.9) were calculated for each country as indicators of the quality of cause-of-death reporting. World Health Organization (WHO) mortality data were extracted for analysis.
This descriptive study aimed to assess the quality (i.e., level of specificity) of cause-of-death reporting using ICD-10 drowning codes across 69 countries. The systematic collection of high-quality mortality data is a prerequisite in designing relevant drowning prevention programmes.