Using a list of avoidable mortality (AM) causes as indicators of medical care (IMC) according to the Holland classification, a study on AM was conducted in the Valencia Community hospitals during 1994 and 1995. A total of 617 patients out of 106,540 discharges with IMC criteria died (mortality rate: 0.58%). The most common causes of AM included hypertension and cerebrovascular disease, with 46% of avoidable deaths; maternalperinatal disease, with 36%, and tuberculosis, 7%. According to the logistic regression analysis, men had a higher risk of AM than women, the age groups at highest risk were those over 50 years and less than 18 years, and the presence of a higher number of diagnoses was associated with increased risk.