Preventable deaths and the evaluation of trauma programs: Flawed concepts and methods.

The preventable death rate is a function of the proportion of all trauma victims seen in the system who should survive but are at increased risk of dying under conditions of sub-optimal care. An. analysis of joint variation of the preventable death rate, the efficacy, and the proportion of salvageable victims illustrates the possibility of erroneous conclusions from the use of preventable death rates, and from the comparison of preventable death rates.