臺灣地區四面環海、氣候溫和，非常適合從事各種水上遊憩活動，然而由於水上安全維護與管理不足，民眾水上安全認知又缺乏，所以每年意外淹死及溺水的事件就不斷在發生，尤其週休二日的實施，水上遊憩活動勢必會隨著增加。因此，水上安全問題就更值得我們去關心與深思了。由於目前對於溺水發生之真正危險原因尚未十分清楚，而且國內相關之研究也是相當有限，所以如何逐步建立溺水事故發生之相關研究就成為當前我國預防意外溺水相當重要的工作。有鑒於此，本研究即先從臺灣地區近二十一年來溺水事件發生之趨勢分析來著手，以瞭解溺水事故之發生時間、重要族群，以及特定地區等基本特性。結果發現臺灣地區過去發生意外淹死及溺水之死亡率隨著年度的增加而呈現長期遞減的趨勢，而且在各年度中呈現了明顯的季節性變化，七、八、六這三個月是發生比率最高的月份，而二、一、十二這三個月則是比率最低的。 若不考慮 65 歲以上之高年齡層，則 0-4 歲年齡組發生意外淹死及溺水之死亡率為最高，而 15-19 歲年齡組則為其次。 同時也發現不同的地區有不同的死亡率，其中臺東、澎湖、花蓮、基隆、宜蘭等縣市的死亡率比較高。再者，不論如何分類，均發現男性發生意外淹死及溺水之死亡率均比女性為高。

　　　　　Warm coast in Taiwan is very suitable for aquatic activities. Due to the lack of the maintenance and management of water safety, and the knowledge in water safety, there often occurred the accidental drowning in Taiwan each year. The number of drownings will become more and more particularly for two-day off every two weeks. Therefore, the water safety is worthy of much attention and concerns. However, it is still unknown for the risk factors associated with accidental drowning, so it is very important for our prevention strategies to build the preliminary data associated with the causes of accidental drowning. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore the primary characteristics (time, age groups, and areas) via the trend analysis of drowning mortality in Taiwan from 1977 through 1997. It is found in this study that there is the secular decreasing trend in the drowning rate. The mortality of drowning shows the seasonal patterns, where most drownings occur during june through August, and several do during December through February. Without consideration of sixty-five year old and above, there are higher drowning rate in the 0 to 4-year and the 15 to 19-year age groups than at all other ages combined. Different regions have different mortality of accidental drowning in Taiwan. Men have higher drowning rates than women for every month, all age groups, and areas in Taiwan.