Avoidable Deaths
Lower rates are desirable.
(Number of deaths at age younger than 75 from avoidable causes ÷ Total mid-year population younger than age 75) × 100,000 (age-adjusted)
Total mid-year population younger than age 75
Number of deaths at age younger than 75 from avoidable causes (treatable or preventable)
Methodology
Name
Avoidable Deaths
Short/Other Names
Potentially Avoidable Mortality
Description
Avoidable mortality refers to untimely deaths that should not occur in the presence of timely and effective health care, including prevention. It serves to focus attention on the portion of population health attainment that can potentially be influenced by the health system.
Potentially avoidable mortality includes premature deaths that could potentially have been avoided through all levels of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary).
Rationale
Avoidable mortality indicators provide additional insight into the Canadian health system. These measures can be used to assess the impact of prevention strategies and the outcomes of health policy decisions and health care provision.
The potentially avoidable mortality indicator includes premature deaths that could be avoidable through all levels of prevention.
Mortality from preventable causes focuses on premature deaths from conditions that could potentially be avoided through primary prevention efforts, such as lifestyle modifications or population-level interventions (for example, vaccinations and injury prevention). The indicator informs efforts aimed at reducing the number of initial cases, or incidence reduction, as deaths are prevented by avoiding new cases altogether.
Mortality from treatable causes focuses on premature deaths that could potentially be avoided through secondary and tertiary prevention efforts, such as screening for and effective treatment of an existing disease. The indicator informs efforts aimed at reducing the number of people who die once they have the condition, or case-fatality reduction.
Avoidable mortality indicators can serve to inform where Canada's health system has made gains and to point to where more work is needed. They can also help to quantify potential gains. For example, in an ideal world where all avoidable mortality in Canada has been eliminated, life expectancy at birth for the years 2006 to 2008 would have been 85.8 years—4.9 years longer than the actual life expectancy of 80.9 years. Three of the 4.9 years would be attributed to eliminating preventable mortality; the other 1.9 years would come from eliminating mortality from treatable causes.
Analysis of avoidable mortality highlights the need for prevention.
Interpretation
Lower rates are desirable.
HSP Framework Dimension
Health system outcomes: Improve health status of Canadians
Areas of Need
Not applicable
Targets/Benchmarks
Not applicable
Available Data Years
to (calendar years)
Geographic Coverage
- All provinces/territories
Reporting Level/Disaggregation
- National
- Province/Territory
- Region
Indicator Results
Update Frequency
Every year
Latest Results Update Date
Updates
The definition of avoidable mortality was updated to align with the international definition. The updated definition is applied to the 2018 to 2020 rate onward. This update is the first since the Canadian version was originally developed in 2012. A notable change is the inclusion of COVID-19 deaths, which were assigned to the preventable category. For details regarding the updates, please refer to Summary of Revisions to Avoidable Mortality Indicators, 2022 (PDF).
Description
(Number of deaths at age younger than 75 from avoidable causes ÷ Total mid-year population younger than age 75) × 100,000 (age-adjusted)
Type of Measurement
Rate - Rate per 100,000
Denominator
Description:
Total mid-year population younger than age 75
Numerator
Description:
Number of deaths at age younger than 75 from avoidable causes (treatable or preventable)
Inclusions:
For the list of avoidable causes, refer to List of conditions for Potentially Avoidable Mortality and Mortality From Preventable and Treatable Causes Indicators (PDF).
Method of Adjustment
Direct standardization
Standard Population:
Canada 2011
Adjustment Applied
Age-adjusted
Geographic Assignment
Place of residence
Data Sources
- Demography division, Statistics Canada
- Vital Statistics - Death Database, Statistics Canada
Caveats and Limitations
It is generally acknowledged that not all deaths from potentially avoidable causes can actually be avoided. For example, some deaths from treatable causes may be unavoidable due to late diagnosis or concurrent health problems, while some deaths from preventable causes could be due to unpredictable events against which no protective measures could have been taken.
An upper age limit of 75 should not imply that some deaths in the population older than 75 could not be avoided. However, multiple comorbidities are common among older adults, making the assignment of a single cause of death challenging.
The indicators will be reviewed periodically to assess the upper age limit and potential new avoidable conditions due to better understanding of disease etiology or advances in treatment.
Trending Issues
An updated definition is applied to the 2018 to 2020 rate onward. Trends for smaller jurisdictions should be interpreted with caution.
References
Australian Government. National Healthcare Agreement: PI 20-Potentially Avoidable Deaths, 2010. http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/394495External link. Published June 8, 2011. Accessed on October 19, 2011.
Ministry of Health. Saving Lives: Amenable Mortality in New Zealand, 1996-2006. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health; 2010.
Nolte E, McKee CM. Does Health Care Save Lives? Avoidable Mortality Revisited. London, UK: The Nuffield Trust; 2004.
Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). Definitions of Avoidable Mortality. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778264958.pdfExternal link. Published May 15, 2012. Accessed on October 19, 2012.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Avoidable Mortality: OECD/Eurostat Lists of Preventable and Treatable Causes of Death (January 2022 version). https://www.oecd.org/health/health-systems/Avoidable-mortality-2019-Joint-OECD-Eurostat-List-preventable-treatable-causes-of-death.pdfExternal link. 2022.
Page A, Tobias M, Wright C, et al. Australian and New Zealand Atlas of Avoidable Mortality. Adelaide, Australia: PHIDU, University of Adelaide; 2006.
Rutstein DD, Berenberg W, Chalmers TC, et al. Measuring the Quality of Medical Care: A Clinical Method. N Engl J Med 1976( 294): 582-588
How to cite:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Avoidable Deaths . Accessed April 28, 2025.
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Comments
The indicator is calculated based on 3 years of pooled data.
Avoidable mortality indicators were developed based on the Australian Potentially Avoidable Deaths indicator and the U.K. Office for National Statistics' list of causes of avoidable mortality, followed by expert review of the diagnosis codes and rationales for including each condition.
Causes of death were assigned to preventable and treatable subcategories based on 2 main mechanisms of mortality reduction: incidence and case-fatality reduction. These subcategories are mutually exclusive. In cases where a prevention/treatment overlap exists, the case was assigned to the preventable category; the exceptions were ischemic heart disease and stroke, where a random half of cases were assigned as preventable and the other half assigned as treatable. However, the mutually exclusive nature of the subcategories does not imply that all cases assigned to the preventable group do not have a treatable component, and vice versa.
More information about the indicator can be found in the In Focus section of Health Indicators 2012, available on CIHI's website.
Indicator results are also available on