DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Year) is a composite health metric. It is calculated as:

• A Life expectancy − Healthy life expectancy
• B Years of healthy life lost due to premature mortality only
• C Disease duration × disability weight only
• D Years of Life Lost (YLL) + Years Lived with Disability (YLD) ✓

Explanation

DALY = YLL (Years of Life Lost due to premature mortality) + YLD (Years Lived with Disability, adjusted for disability weight). One DALY represents one year of healthy life lost. DALYs combine mortality and morbidity into a single metric, enabling comparison of the burden of different diseases. HALE (Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy) = Life expectancy − total YLD; it is a related but different metric.

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

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.