Bathroom safety data shows that falls are the dominant source of emergency-department-treated bathroom injuries among U.S. adults, while drowning and hot-water burns create distinct risks for children and older adults. The figures below separate injury estimates, mortality data, historical safety estimates and broader sanitation access measures by place and period.
Key Bathroom Safety Statistics
The most broadly useful bathroom safety figures are:
- In 2008, 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries were treated in U.S. emergency departments among people aged 15 and older.
- In 2008, the U.S. bathroom-injury rate was 96.4 per 100,000 people aged 15 and older.
- In 2008, women accounted for 64.3% of estimated U.S. bathroom injuries, compared with 35.7% for men.
- In 2008, falls caused 81.1% of estimated U.S. bathroom injuries among people aged 15 and older.
- In 2008, 68.3% of estimated U.S. bathroom injuries occurred in or around a bathtub or shower.
- In 2008, 27.5% of estimated U.S. bathroom injuries followed bathing or showering.
- In 2008, 17.4% of estimated U.S. bathroom injuries had a fracture as the primary diagnosis.
- In 2008, head or neck was the primary injured body region in 31.2% of estimated U.S. bathroom injuries.
- In 2008, 84.9% of estimated U.S. bathroom-injury patients were treated and released from the emergency department.
- In 2008, 13.7% of estimated U.S. bathroom-injury patients were hospitalized or transferred.
- From 1999 through 2010, bathtubs accounted for 9.7% of U.S. unintentional drowning deaths.
- From 1999 through 2010, about 62% of unintentional drowning deaths among U.S. children under age 1 occurred in bathtubs.
- In 2018–2019, 75% of U.S. drowning deaths among children under age 1 occurred in bathtubs.
- In 1999–2010, adults aged 85 and older had a bathtub drowning death rate of 0.48 per 100,000.
- A historical CPSC report estimated more than 70 people died each year from bathtub burns.
- A historical CPSC report estimated more than 100 people drowned in bathtubs each year.
- In 2022, 3.5 billion people, or 43% of the global population, lacked safely managed sanitation.
Contents
- Bathroom injury frequency and affected groups
- Bathroom falls by age, sex and severity
- Bathtub and shower injury locations and activities
- Bathroom injury diagnoses and emergency outcomes
- Bathtub drowning statistics
- Bathroom burns and bathtub hazards
- Sanitation and hygiene context
Bathroom Injury Statistics: Frequency and Affected Groups
The CDC’s nationally representative NEISS-AIP estimate covers nonfatal injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments in 2008 among people aged 15 and older. It excludes fatal injuries and measures ED-treated events rather than household exposure or all injuries occurring in bathrooms.
According to Nonfatal Bathroom Injuries Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years — United States, 2008, the total was 234,094 injuries, equivalent to 96.4 injuries per 100,000 people aged 15 and older.
| Group, United States, 2008 | Estimated injuries | Rate per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Women, age 15+ | 150,605 | 121.2 |
| Men, age 15+ | 83,489 | 70.4 |
| All people, age 15+ | 234,094 | 96.4 |
Women represented 64.3% of the estimate and men 35.7%. The sex-specific rates use separate population denominators, so they describe population rates rather than risk per bathroom visit.
The age results also varied substantially. People aged 35–44 had 32,322 estimated injuries and a rate of 76.0 per 100,000, while the CDC table labels ages 44–54 with 34,851 injuries and a rate of 70.5 per 100,000.
Older age bands had higher reported rates in this dataset:
- Ages 55–64: 28,553 estimated injuries and 84.8 per 100,000.
- Ages 65–74: 22,555 estimated injuries and 112.1 per 100,000.
- Ages 75–84: 31,387 estimated injuries and 241.0 per 100,000.
- Ages 85 and older: 29,484 estimated injuries and 515.3 per 100,000.
These are 2008 weighted estimates, not current annual counts, and the CDC notes that they do not measure individual exposure time.
Bathroom Fall Statistics by Age, Sex and Injury Severity
Falls dominated the 2008 bathroom-injury estimates. The CDC classified 189,928 injuries, or 81.1% of the total, as falls; overexertion caused 22,063 injuries (9.4%), and being struck by or against something caused 15,039 (6.4%).
Fire or burn was the primary cause for 1,410 estimated injuries, or 0.6%. The CDC flags small estimates or estimates with high coefficients of variation as potentially unstable, so this figure should be interpreted cautiously.
The age gradient is especially visible among older adults: the rate was 112.1 per 100,000 for ages 65–74 and 515.3 per 100,000 for ages 85 and older. This comparison is between CDC age bands and does not measure fall risk during a specific activity.
A separate peer-reviewed study, Falls in the Bathroom: A Mechanism of Injury for All Ages, examined 57 patients at a Los Angeles trauma center from January 2008 through May 2015. The patients ranged from 0 to 92 years old, with a mean age of 45, and ages 41–60 were the highest-risk age group within that clinical sample.
The sample also recorded several coexisting factors:
- Cardiovascular disease was present in 23 of 57 patients, or 40%.
- Neuromuscular disorders were present in 13 of 57 patients, or 23%.
- Diabetes was present in 9 of 57 patients, or 16%.
- Ten of 57 patients, or 18%, were intoxicated.
These findings describe a single-center retrospective sample, not national prevalence or causal relationships.
Bathtub and Shower Injury Statistics by Location and Activity
Bathtubs and showers were the most common coded locations in the CDC’s 2008 bathroom-injury analysis. The location estimates were:
| Location | Estimated injuries | Share |
|---|---|---|
| In or around bathtub or shower | 159,818 | 68.3% |
| On or near toilet | 54,696 | 23.4% |
| At sink | 2,906 | 1.2% |
The sink estimate is small and should be read with the CDC’s precision caveat. Location categories describe where the injury occurred, while activity categories describe what preceded it; they are not mutually interchangeable measures.
Bathing or showering was the precipitating event for 64,436 injuries, or 27.5%. Slipping accounted for 40,450 injuries (17.3%), while standing up, sitting down or using the toilet preceded 33,052 (14.1%).
Getting out of a tub or shower preceded 23,055 injuries (9.8%), and getting into a shower or tub preceded 5,062 (2.2%). Transfer-related activity accounted for 3,426 injuries (1.5%); transfers included movement between a wheelchair or walker and a toilet, sink, shower or tub.
The precipitating event was not specified for 39,102 injuries, or 16.7%. That missing-circumstance share limits how precisely these data can identify mechanisms.
Bathroom Injury Outcomes: Diagnoses, Body Regions and ED Disposition
The most common primary diagnoses in the CDC estimate were contusions or abrasions, strains or sprains, fractures and lacerations. The measures below refer to the primary diagnosis at the ED visit.
| Primary diagnosis, United States, 2008 | Estimated injuries | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Contusions or abrasions | 68,674 | 29.3% |
| Strains or sprains | 45,994 | 19.6% |
| Fractures | 40,699 | 17.4% |
| Lacerations | 35,031 | 15.0% |
Head or neck was the primary injured body region in 73,072 cases, or 31.2%, while lower-trunk injuries accounted for 47,131 cases, or 20.1%. These are primary body-region classifications and do not describe every injury a patient may have sustained.
At the index ED visit, 198,730 patients, or 84.9%, were treated and released. Another 32,030, or 13.7%, were hospitalized or transferred to another medical facility; this is an ED disposition measure, not a long-term outcome.
The Los Angeles trauma-center series found contusions or lacerations in 45 of 57 patients, or 79%, fractures in 12 of 57, or 21%, and traumatic brain injury in 7 of 57, or 12%. Its small retrospective design means those percentages should not be substituted for national estimates.
Bathtub Drowning Statistics for Infants, Children and Older Adults
Mortality data capture a different safety outcome from ED injury surveillance. Unintentional Drowning Deaths in the United States, 1999–2010 recorded 46,419 U.S. unintentional drowning deaths during that period, averaging 3,868 per year, across all locations.
The overall drowning death rate fell 9.0%, from 1.44 per 100,000 in 1999 to 1.31 in 2010. Bathtubs accounted for 9.7% of deaths across all ages and locations in that period, so the bathtub share should not be generalized to all bathroom injuries.
Infant and older-adult measures identify different populations of concern:
- About 62% of unintentional drowning deaths among U.S. children under age 1 occurred in bathtubs from 1999 through 2010.
- Adults aged 85 and older had a bathtub drowning death rate of 0.48 per 100,000 from 1999 through 2010.
For children aged 0–17, Unintentional Drowning Deaths Among Children Aged 0–17 Years: United States, 1999–2019 reports a 38% decline in the overall drowning rate, from 1.6 per 100,000 in 1999 to 1.0 in 2019. In 2018–2019, 75% of drowning deaths among children under age 1 occurred in bathtubs; there were 73 deaths in that age group across the two years.
Across 2018–2019, the two-year death totals were 73 for children under 1, 821 for ages 1–4, 390 for ages 5–13 and 270 for ages 14–17. The ages 1–4 rate fell from 3.2 per 100,000 in 1999 to 2.4 in 2019 but remained the highest child age-group rate, while the 2019 rate was 1.4 for boys aged 0–17 and 0.6 for girls.
Bathroom Burn and Bathtub Hazard Statistics
The historical Bathtub and Shower Injuries Part 1 report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated more than 70 people died each year from bathtub burns and more than 100 people drowned in bathtubs each year. These are report-era estimates, not current annual figures.
The same report estimated that children under age 10 accounted for more than 45% of bathtub accidents while comprising less than 20% of the population, and that children accounted for more than 75% of bathtub fatalities. The denominator for the population comparison was total population rather than bathtub exposure.
The CPSC estimated that hot-water bathtub and shower burns cost society about $25 million annually. That historical cost is expressed in nominal dollars and is not inflation-adjusted here.
The report recommended setting a central water heater to 120°F as a burn countermeasure. This is a safety recommendation, not an observed adoption rate or measured outcome.
Bathroom Safety in the Wider Sanitation and Hygiene Context
Bathroom safety also depends on whether households have safe water, sanitation and handwashing facilities. WHO/UNICEF modeled monitoring estimates provide global WASH context, but these indicators are broader than bathroom-injury incidence.
In 2022, 2.2 billion people, or 27% of the global population, lacked safely managed drinking water at home. Safely managed drinking water means water available at home when needed and free from contamination.
In the same year, 3.5 billion people, or 43% of the global population, lacked safely managed sanitation. The definition requires a toilet or latrine leading to treatment or safe disposal of excreta, while 2.0 billion people, or 25%, lacked a household handwashing facility with soap and water.
Global access improved between 2015 and 2022, although the measures describe modeled service access rather than observed behavior:
| Global indicator | 2015 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Safely managed drinking water | 69% | 73% |
| Safely managed sanitation | 49% | 57% |
| Basic hygiene services | 67% | 75% |
The WHO/UNICEF assessment, published in 2023 using 2022 status, says progress toward 2030 targets would need to be six times faster for safely managed drinking water, five times faster for sanitation and three times faster for basic hygiene. These are forward-looking progress requirements, not forecasts that the targets will be achieved.