What percent of adverse events were judged preventable?

• A. 22%
• B. 5-6%
• C. 1-2%
• D. 10-12%

Answer: (A)

Understanding how many adverse events are judged preventable shows how often harm in care could have been avoided with different actions or safer systems. In studies like this, each adverse event is reviewed and labeled as preventable or not based on predefined criteria, then the percent labeled preventable is reported. If about 22% of adverse events are judged preventable, that means roughly one in five harms could have been prevented with better safety practices, teamwork, protocols, or system design. It indicates a substantial opportunity to reduce harm through targeted safety improvements. The smaller percentages (5-6%, 1-2%, or 10-12%) would imply far fewer events are avoidable, which would suggest a much smaller margin for improvement; the 22% figure best reflects a meaningful, actionable safety gap.