Public holiday and long weekend mortality risk in Australia: A behaviour and usage risk analysis for coastal drowning and other fatalities.

OBJECTIVE

This article aims to determine the impact of public holidays and long weekends on the risk of drowning and non-drowning deaths on the Australian coast.

METHODS

A retrospective case-control study using relative risk ratios and Z-scores to compare all unintentional fatalities on the Australian coast between 2004 and 2021 to a longitudinal representative survey sample of the Australian public and their coastal usage.

RESULTS

Overall, the coastal mortality risk increased by 2.03 times for public holidays (95%CI = 1.77-2.33, p<0.0001) and 2.14 times by long weekends (95%CI = 1.85-2.48, p<0.0001). Children <16 years had the highest increased risk of death on public holidays (RR = 3.53, 95%CI = 1.98-6.31, p = 0.0005) and long weekends (RR = 2.90, 95%CI = 1.43-5.89, p = 0.011), while residents who were born overseas had a higher risk of death compared to those born in Australia. For public holidays, the greatest increase in risk was for swimming/wading and bystander rescues, while for long weekends, it was for scuba diving and snorkelling.

CONCLUSIONS

Public holidays and long weekends increase the risk of both drowning and non-drowning deaths on the Australian coast, which differed by demographics and activities.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: These results highlight periods of risk when targeted coastal safety messaging to high-risk demographics (particularly children and overseas-born residents), and provision of surf lifesaving resources can be increased.