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Disability-adjusted Life Years




Traditionally, health liabilities were expressed using one measure: (expected or average number of) Years of Life Lost (YLL). This measure does not take the impact of disability into account, which can be expressed by: Years Lived with Disability (YLD).
DALYs are calculated by taking the sum of these two components. In a formula: DALY = YLL + YLD.

Looking at the burden of disease via DALYs can reveal surprising things about a population's health. For example, the 1990 WHO report indicated that 5 of the 10 leading causes of disability were Psychiatric Conditions . Psychiatric and Neurologic conditions account for 28% of all years lived with disability, but only 1.4% of all deaths and 1.1% of years lost. Thus, psychiatric disorders, while generally not seen as a major Epidemiological problem, are shown by consideration of disability years to have a huge impact on populations.


SEE ALSO

Quality-adjusted Life Years (QALY).


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