PHE5HEF: A Detailed Comparison of QALY and DALY in Healthcare

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY), two critical measures used in healthcare and public health. It defines each term, highlighting that QALYs quantify the effectiveness of interventions by considering both the quality and quantity of life gained, while DALYs measure the health impact by assessing years lost due to disability or premature death. The essay contrasts their methodologies, noting that QALYs are based on individual health experiences, whereas DALYs are linked to specific diseases. Furthermore, it explains the purpose of both measures in evaluating healthcare interventions and aiding policymakers in making informed, cost-effective decisions, ultimately emphasizing their importance in improving population health outcomes.

Running Head: HEALTH CARE
QALY AND DALY
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Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) refers to the summary result of the measure that is
used to quantify the effectiveness of a specific intervention. QALY’s are designed to mix the
effects of gains in both quality and quantity of life that is associated with an intervention. In this
case, we compare the incremental QALY’s with the incremental costs that are used to measure
the economic value. Precisely, QALY is the artifact of life anticipation when pooled with the
degree of the quality of life years that an individual is yet to live (Gold, Stevenson, & Fryback,
2017).
Disability-adjusted life year refers to the measure of the health impact that can be utilized
in the analysis of cost-effectiveness as a substitute for the quality-adjusted life year. DALY was
first discovered by the World Bank. DALYs have been employed by the WHO as the most
favorable way in the comparison of overall health and life expectancy in various states (Gold,
Stevenson, & Fryback, 2017). They include a ration of whole syndrome burden which is
expressed as the number of years wasted due to low well-being, debility or even demise. A
DALY represents a year of healthy life and is expressed as DALYs lost and compared to the
hypothetical maximum and this is the maximum life expectancy that is achievable without any
disability or disease (Sassi, Marthe , & David , 2016).
Differences between QALY and DALY
Ancient QALYs are based on HRQL (which is concerned with the development of
weights for the health condition) weights that are rooted in individual experiences of health. The
weights are not linked to any specific disease (Robberstad, 2016). The HRQL weights are based
on the values of individuals for either their state of health or that of others. On the other hand,
DALY architects attach estimates of HRQL to particular diseases instead of attaching them to

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their health status. The latter was one for realistic whys and wherefores as a result of the
difficulties experienced in the collection of primary data. From a large number of states for
which the global burden of diseases is calculated (Gold, Stevenson, & Fryback, 2017). DALY
developers also possess voiced concerns on the self-assessment of health and mostly view them
as misleading when purposes of cultural comparisons are made.
Purposes of DALY and QALY
QALY and DALY are tools that are used to provide a unit measure of mortality and
sicknesses. Both are used for evaluating healthcare interventions and cure. Application of both
QALY and DALY in public health makes it possible for the policymakers to make sound
decisions and states to pick the vital cost-effective solutions (Sassi, Marthe , & David , 2016).

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References
Gold, M. R., Stevenson, D., & Fryback, D. G. (2017). HALYS and QALYS and DALYS, Oh
My: similarities and differences in summary measures of population Health. Annual
review of public health, 45(6), 45-67.
Robberstad, D. (2016). QALYs vs DALYs vs LYs gained: What are the differences, and what
difference do they make for health care priority setting? Norsk epidemiologi, 45(6), 45-
67.
Sassi, F., Marthe , R. G., & David , S. (2016). Calculating QALYs, comparing QALY and
DALY calculations. Health policy and planning, 45(6), 34-56.