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Review
. 1999 Nov 27;319(7222):1423-5.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7222.1423.

The value of DALY life: problems with ethics and validity of disability adjusted life years

T Arnesen  1 , E Nord
Affiliations
Review

The value of DALY life: problems with ethics and validity of disability adjusted life years

T Arnesen et al. BMJ. .

Erratum in

  • BMJ 2000 May 20;320(7246):1398
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure
Figure
DALYs and QALYs are complementary concepts. QALYs are years of healthy life lived; DALYs are years of healthy life lost. Both approaches multiply the number of years (x axis) by the quality of those years (y axis). QALYs use “utility” weights of health states; DALYs use “disability weights” to reflect the burden of the same states. For example, if the utility of deafness is 0.67, the disability weight of deafness is 1−0.67=0.33. Disregarding age weighting and discounting, and assuming life expectancy of 80 years, a deaf man living 50 years represents 0.67×50=33.4 QALYs gained and 0.33×50+30×1=46.6 DALYs lost
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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