Disease burden
Disease burden
The overall impact of disease on health, function, families and society. It can be measured through mortality, disability, quality of life, hospital use, caregiving and costs rather than one fixed percentage.
How to read it
Identify what is measured: affected people, premature deaths, functional loss, healthcare use or economic and caregiving costs. Retain the observation period and methods.
A common pitfall
Few patients can still face substantial burden. Patient counts do not directly establish treatment eligibility or market size. Diagnostic delay describes the care pathway rather than the entirety of disease burden.
DALYs differ from economic costs
Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) add years of life lost to premature death (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs). One DALY represents one lost year of healthy life.
DALYs measure health loss, not financial costs. Economic studies should specify perspective, price year, and inclusion of caregiving and productivity losses.