TY  - JOUR
T1  - DRowning mortality in los angeles county
AU  - Cooper SP, Griffith JA
Y1  - 1989/02/24
N1  - 10.1001/jama.1989.03420080068031
JO  - JAMA
SP  - 1154
EP  - 1154
VL  - 261
IS  - 8
N2  - To the Editor.— 
    O'Carroll and colleagues1 presented an important population-based study on deaths due to drowning in Los Angeles County from 1976 to 1984; however, their calculation of death rates may have been erroneous. They correctly point out that there is geographic variability in death rates due to drowning across the United States. It is therefore essential that the calculation of rates be comparable across studies and be described adequately in "Methods" sections of research reports.It seems that the study by O'Carroll et al calculated average annual death rates due to drowning by including in the numerator the number of deaths recorded in the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office during the 9 years and in the denominator the resident population census data (multiplied by 9 years). However, it is important to distinguish between place of occurrence of death and residence at the time of death. Although their "Methods"
SN  - 0098-7484
M3  - doi: 10.1001/jama.1989.03420080068031
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1989.03420080068031
ER  -