quality-adjusted life year

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a measure of disease burden and the value of health interventions that combines quantity of life and quality of life into a single metric; one QALY represents one year lived in perfect health, while a year lived with illness or disability is assigned a value between zero and one depending on the severity of the health impairment, as determined by surveys of patient or public preferences; QALYs are used by health technology assessment bodies such as the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to evaluate whether the cost of a new drug or intervention relative to the QALYs it generates — the cost per QALY — represents good value for money; the metric is controversial because it requires placing a numerical value on human health states and can disadvantage treatments for elderly or severely disabled patients