Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States with rates peaking in children ages one to two years. The relationship between swimming lessons, swimming ability and the risk of drowning in this young age group is unknown. While a carefully designed case-control study is probably the most appropriate study design to evaluate this relationship, questions remain about the feasibility of conducting such a study. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the feasibility and costs of conducting a case-control study evaluating the relationship between swimming lessons and the risk of drowning. A limited number of parents of submersion victims were approached for enrollment in the study. Matched controls were sought using a variety of methods including random digit dialing, block-walk and selection of controls from physician's offices. For submersions that occurred in locations accessible to the general public, controls were also sought from the site of submersion. This data collection is complete. Current efforts are focused on data analysis and preparation of manuscripts for peer review.
