percentage

Question

if an occurance rate for pressure sores goes from 16.9 to 4.8 what percentage has it reduced by.

 

I thought this was 71.6% (12.1/16.9 x 100) but was told I was wrong

Answer 1

I agree with you on the 71.6%.  Was it a semantics issue?  If the wording was "what % has it reduced by", then the 71.6% should be correct.  If they asked about change, perhaps you needed to include that "decreased" wording, or maybe a negative sign?  

 

But you are absolutely correct, % change is always change/original, which you have done here.