{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.disability-adjusted-life-year","code":"thing-q55627","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q55627/","name":"disability-adjusted life year","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"research-draft","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QTY"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A measure of disease burden that combines years of life lost to premature death with years lived with disability, weighted by severity, so that one DALY represents one lost year of healthy life; used by the World Health Organization and the Global Burden of Disease study to compare conditions, populations and interventions.","purpose":"Let an agent explain what a disability-adjusted life year is and how it is calculated, relay burden estimates from WHO and the Global Burden of Disease study with dates and sources, present methodological debates with attribution, and avoid applying the measure to individuals.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Combines mortality and morbidity","Uses standard life expectancy and disability weights","Population measure, not an individual one","Methods have changed between editions"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"define","name":"Define","description":"What the measure is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is a DALY, and what do its two components represent?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about DALYs or about QALYs or life expectancy?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"calculation","name":"Calculation","description":"Calculation.","findings":[{"id":"calculation-finding","name":"Calculation","description":"Calculation.","questions":[{"text":"How are years of life lost and years lived with disability calculated, and which weights and life tables are used?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which methods edition is cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"use","name":"Use","description":"Estimates and comparisons.","layers":[{"id":"estimates","name":"Estimates","description":"Burden estimates.","findings":[{"id":"estimates-finding","name":"Estimates","description":"Estimates.","questions":[{"text":"What burden estimates exist for a condition or region, from which source and year?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Is the comparison across the same method edition?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"decisions","name":"Decisions","description":"Policy use.","findings":[{"id":"decisions-finding","name":"Decisions","description":"Decisions.","questions":[{"text":"How are DALYs used in priority setting and cost-effectiveness?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits health economics?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"debate","name":"Debate","description":"Methods and ethics.","layers":[{"id":"methods","name":"Methods","description":"Methodological debates.","findings":[{"id":"methods-finding","name":"Methods","description":"Methods.","questions":[{"text":"What criticisms and revisions of DALY methods exist, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation neutral?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"ethics","name":"Ethics","description":"Ethical questions.","findings":[{"id":"ethics-finding","name":"Ethics","description":"Ethics.","questions":[{"text":"What ethical questions do disability weights and age weighting raise, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the measure being misapplied to an individual?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Sources and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"sources","name":"Sources","description":"Data sources.","findings":[{"id":"sources-finding","name":"Sources","description":"Sources.","questions":[{"text":"Where are DALY data published, and how are they accessed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How is the measure taught in public health?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain DALYs, how they are calculated and how they are used.","Report disease burden figures from official sources with dates."],"mustNot":["Use DALYs to imply some lives are worth less because of disability.","Present DALY estimates without their uncertainty and assumptions.","Make individual care decisions based on DALY comparisons."],"requiresHuman":["Priority setting for health spending."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Weighting years lived with disability raises questions about the value of disabled lives.","Burden estimates guide which diseases get funding."],"affectedParties":["Disabled people","Patients with neglected diseases"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: a metric; global and national health bodies publish the estimates.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q1464352","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q17021791","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"health indicator","type":"related","note":"a summary measure"},{"target":"quality-adjusted life year","type":"related","note":"measures health gained"},{"target":"Global Burden of Disease study","type":"related","note":"main source"},{"target":"World Health Organization","type":"related","note":"for burden estimates"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.disability-adjusted-life-year","Wikidata: Q55627 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55627)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["components: 2 terms - years of life lost plus years lived with disability","disability weights: 0-1 scale - from GBD surveys"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Sum of years of life lost and years lived with disability","Reported per population or per 100000","Quality-adjusted life years measure health gained rather than lost","Not visible; a number in tables and charts."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the components and calculation","relay burden estimates with sources and dates","compare conditions or interventions in general terms","present methodological debates with attribution"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Comparing estimates from different method editions","Applying population measures to individuals","Ethical debates over disability weights presented as settled"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["WHO methods for global health estimates","Global Burden of Disease study protocols","Health economics guidelines that use DALYs"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Comparing disease burden across conditions and populations.","years of life lost component","years lived with disability component","age-standardised DALY rates","DALYs by cause, risk factor and region","related measures such as QALY and HALE"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q55627: disability-adjusted life year","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55627","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Disability-adjusted life year","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability-adjusted_life_year","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should QALY and HALE be separate entries?","How should GBD data releases be linked by year?","How should methodological changes be recorded?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q55627/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q55627/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T19:51:38Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}