disability-adjusted life years


disability-adjusted life years (DALYs),

a measure of the burden of disease on a defined population, usually that of an entire nation, based on adjustment of life expectancy that allows for long-term disability as estimated from official national statistics; DALYs have been extensively used by the World Health Organization to arrive at rankings of nations according to average national levels of health. [Developed c.1990 by C.L. Murray and A. Lopez for the Harvard University/WHO Global Burden of Disease study.]

dis·a·bil·i·ty-ad·just·ed life years

(DALYs) (dis'ă-bil'i-tē ă-jŭs'tĕd līf yērz) A measure of the burden of disease on a defined population, based on adjustment of life expectancy to allow for long-term disability as estimated from official statistics.
See also: global burden of disease[Developed c.1990 by C.L. Murray and A. Lopez for the Harvard University/WHO Global Burden of Disease study.]