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Turn Around, Don’t Drown: A Systematic Review of Risk Factors for Motor Vehicle–Related Drowning in Floods and its Preventive Strategies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2024

Zahra Haghdoost ,
Shahrokh Yousefzadeh-Chabok  and
Enayatollah Homaie Rad Open the ORCID record for Enayatollah Homaie Rad [Opens in a new window]
Zahra Haghdoost
Affiliation:
Guilan Road Trauma Research Center, Trauma Institute, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Shahrokh Yousefzadeh-Chabok
Affiliation:
Guilan Road Trauma Research Center, Trauma Institute, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Enayatollah Homaie Rad*
Affiliation:
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Trauma Institute, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
*
Corresponding author: Enayatollah Homaie Rad; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

Exposure to flood, one of the most widespread disasters caused by natural hazards, increases the risk of drowning. Driving through flooded waterways is a cause of death due to flood-related drowning, especially in flood-prone areas. This study aimed at identifying the risk factors for motor vehicle–related drowning in floods and its prevention strategies.

Methods

International and national databases (WOS, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Magiran, and SID) were searched in the time span from 2000 to 2022. The studies investigating the risk factors relevant to land motor vehicle–related drowning in floods and its prevention strategies were included and analyzed using thematic content analysis.

Results

In 14 eligible studies, risk factors for land motor vehicle–related drowning in floods were identified and categorized in 3 subthemes: driver (3 categories: socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and attitude, and beliefs); technology (1 category: land motor vehicles); and environment (2 categories: physical and socio-economic environment). Physical and structural measures (1 category: road safety improvement) and nonstructural measures (4 categories: research and education and raising awareness, risk management, promoting social-cognitive beliefs, and reconstruction and improvement of legal infrastructure) were proposed as drowning prevention strategies.

Conclusions

The knowledge, attitude, and belief of the driver; the vehicle; and the environment were the most important risk factors of driving through flooded waterways. These factors should be considered when designing programs and physical and structural strategies for future interventions to curb this dangerous and potentially fatal driving behavior.

Keywords

drowningmotor vehiclesfloodrisk factorprevention
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e134
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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