A Literature Review

November 11, 2016

Introduction

            The purpose of this paper is threefold: the first is to introduce three different peer-reviewed geographic journal articles, summarize each of them, and then relate each article to my own study project. I used three separate topics to find different articles that applied to my studies. These topics are: “tool” or methods used for research, “topic” or in this instance, drowning, and “region” or area of interest. All articles in review were found through the Web of Science search engine.

The First Review

Tool – Methods

            The first article in review is A population-based study on deaths by drowning incidents in Turkey by Adnan Turguta (2014). Within this article, the author discusses the current standards for recording drowning incidents and prevention management methods used for Turkey. Turguta explains that as a country, Turkey has a relatively high drowning rate, yet protocol for recording, managing, and furthermore, mitigation is miniscule at best. Thus, Turguta’s article used online nationwide news articles over the span of five years, to develop a risk analysis that profiles drowning accidents within Turkey. In doing so, Turguta identified three main factors such as the victim’s sex, age, and general location of the accident. “General location” was divided into two main categories: whether the accident occurred in a rural or urban setting, and what type of water feature did that accident happen in.

            From this research, Turguta recorded 3,216 separate drownings. Turguta research found trends such as: 84% of all victims were males, the highest group of victims were between the age of 10 to 19 years old, and that rural, natural water ways (i.e. river, creek, stream, ditch) accounted for much of accidents. From these results, Turguta hypothesizes that many victims are males, aged 10-19, that live in urban areas and are going to rural, natural waterways to swim. The author ends his article by suggesting the development of water safety organizations that could provide the grounds for different water safety education programs and policies within Turkey.

            Turguta’s article was used as a “tool” within my own research. When this semester began, I came into capstone knowing exactly what I wanted to research, but not how to accomplish the task of doing so. This article provided me with a starting point on how to do so. Like Turguta, I used localized online news articles to find data such as: age, sex, and location, of individuals related to the accidents. However, unlike Turguta, my area of interest is much smaller, thus to increase the number of data points to work with, the number of years used for data collection expanded to 14, or what was electronically available online. Again, unlike Turguta’s situation, recording methods for drowning related accidents in Eau Claire are more developed. This meant that I could back up my personal search with data collected by Eau Claire’s Police Department.

The Second Review

Topic – Drowning

            The second article in review is A study on rescuer drowning and multiple drowning incidents, which was also written by Adnan Turgut (2012). Within this study, Turgut looked at attributing factors of victims related related in multiple drowning incidents. Yet before the author did this, first he took the time to define what it means to drown. Turgut states that drowning occurs when there is respiratory impairment from being submerged in a liquid, and can lead to death. However, according to Turgut’s studies, drowning is the most preventable category in accidental injury-related deaths. To outline these prevention methods, Turgut sticks to generalized suggestions and instead focuses on the need for proper studies that relate drowning.

            This article was used as a back drop for my topic of drowning. I found this data very useful because it provided me with another aspect of drowning related risks. Turgut’s article also provides a more generalized outlook on my topic. This outlook can then be used as a base point in which my research can narrow into a more specific area of drowning related accidents.

             

The Final Review

Region – River Systems

The final article in review is Fatal river drowning: the identification of research gaps through a systematic literature review by Amy E. Peden (2016). Within this article, the author investigates different scientific literature that focuses on river drownings, in order to identify corresponding trends associated with victims, risk factors of accident locations, and different recommended mitigation tactics. In doing so, the author also discusses data inconsistencies or research gaps that should be addressed in future river drowning studies. The author begins her review by stating that drowning is the third highest cause of injury related deaths in the world (World Health Organization), yet there is little in the way of source specific mitigation research. Peden hypothesizes that this lack of literature is due to generalized groups of different water features. For example, Peden’s review is based specifically on river related drownings. Yet, as the author points out, rivers are grouped into a larger category of natural waterways. Also depicted in this category are lakes, creeks, beaches, harbors, oceans and dams. As Peden notes, this combined category makes finding river specific literature harder to locate.

            That being said, Peden was able to establish certain trends that were associated with river drownings.  These trends or risk factors, as the author refers to them as, included victim attributes such as: age, sex, personal behavior, consumption of alcohol, and the ability to swim. However, Peden also found trends within the environment including: river depth or sudden drop offs, water clarity, underwater obstructions, currents, and seasonal variances. Peden ends her literature review with different river safety mitigation techniques that range from generalized methods to more specific examples. 

            This literature review was very useful to me as it provided a lot of background information on river based drowning. Within Peden’s introduction, she notes that finding literature that is specific to river drownings is often very difficult to do. In comparison, I have also found this challenging. Thus finding a literature review that could summarize specific trends demonstrated in academic journals proved to be very valuable.  From Peden’s review I was able to gain information on river drowning on a global scale and see what different countries are doing to combat this public safety issue. I also found it very useful that Peden explored both generalized and more specific examples of mitigation methods used in regards to waterways.

Conclusion

Literature Needed

            While conducting literature based research I found multiple case studies on regional drowning occurrences. From this data, I was able to find a method for victim based data collection, and different attributes associated with said victims. From these journal articles, I also developed a clearer understanding of why my research project was important. However, I still feel that I need more research what makes a river system dangerous to human safety. Once I find this information, I feel that the final connection from epidemiology and geography will be established. This connection is what would label my research as geographically based instead of being associated with public safety and health.

Sources

Peden, A. E., R. C. Franklin & P. A. Leggat (2016) Fatal river drowning: the identification of research gaps through a systematic literature review. Injury Prevention, 22, 202-209.

Turgut, A. (2012) A study on rescuer drowning and multiple drowning incidents. Journal of Safety Research, 43, 129-132.

Turgut, A. (2014) A population-based study on deaths by drowning incidents in Turkey. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 21, 61-67.