The Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) is a composite health metric combining Years of Life Lost (YLL) and Years Lived with Disability (YLD). In the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) framework, the disability weight used in YLD calculation ranges from:

• A 0 to 10 (scale independent of death)
• B −1 (better than average) to +2 (worse than death)
• C 1 (perfect health) to 0 (death)
• D 0 (perfect health) to 1 (equivalent to death) ✓

Explanation

Disability weights in the DALY framework range from 0 (perfect health, equivalent to no disability burden) to 1 (equivalent to death). DALY = YLL + YLD, where YLD = number of incident cases × disability weight × average duration. Conditions with DW near 0 (e.g., mild hearing loss ~0.02) contribute little burden per year; conditions with DW near 1 (e.g., severe dementia ~0.45) contribute substantially. One DALY = one year of healthy life lost. The GBD project updates disability weights based on population surveys across multiple countries.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.