%0 Journal Article
%T Incidence, prevalence, and hybrid approaches to calculating disability-adjusted life years
%A Schroeder S
%J Population Health Metrics
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1478-7954-10-19
%X When disability-adjusted life years are used to measure the burden of disease on a population in a time interval, they can be calculated in several different ways: from an incidence, pure prevalence, or hybrid perspective. I show that these calculation methods are not equivalent and discuss some of the formal difficulties each method faces. I show that if we don¡¯t discount the value of future health, there is a sense in which the choice of calculation method is a mere question of accounting. Such questions can be important, but they don¡¯t raise deep theoretical concerns. If we do discount, however, choice of calculation method can change the relative burden attributed to different conditions over time. I conclude by recommending that studies involving disability-adjusted life years be explicit in noting what calculation method is being employed and in explaining why that calculation method has been chosen.
%K Disability-adjusted life years
%K Incidence perspective
%K Prevalence perspective
%K Burden of disease
%K Discounting
%U http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/content/10/1/19