A DALY (disability-adjusted life year) represents one lost year of healthy life. It combines years of life lost due to premature death (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD). One DALY = one year of healthy life lost.

What is a disability weight?

Disability weights range from 0 (perfect health) to 1 (death). They reflect the severity of a condition. For example, mild anemia has a weight near 0.004, while severe HIV/AIDS without treatment is around 0.582. The Global Burden of Disease study publishes standardized weights.

YLL (years of life lost) measures premature mortality — deaths that occurred before the standard life expectancy. YLD (years lived with disability) measures time spent in less-than-full health. Total DALYs = YLL + YLD.

Does this use age-weighting or discounting?

This calculator uses the simplified DALY formula without age-weighting or time discounting, consistent with GBD 2010+ methodology which dropped these adjustments for comparability. For studies requiring discounting, multiply YLL by an appropriate discount factor separately.

How do I find disability weights for my condition?

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study publishes comprehensive disability weights for hundreds of conditions at healthdata.org. The WHO also maintains reference tables. Common examples: low back pain 0.37, diabetes with neuropathy 0.133, tuberculosis 0.333.

DALYs Averted Calculator

Name: DALYs Averted Calculator
Availability: InStock
Author: Nham Vu

Calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted by a health intervention by combining prevented deaths (YLL) and reduced disability burden (YLD).

Years of Life Lost (YLL)

Deaths prevented

Avg. age at death

Life expectancy

Years Lived with Disability (YLD)

Disability cases averted

Duration (years)

Disability weight (0–1)

Common disability weights (GBD)

Mild anemia: 0.004 Tuberculosis: 0.333 Low back pain: 0.370 Severe HIV: 0.582

Enter your intervention parameters and click Calculate.

Summary

Calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted by a health intervention by combining prevented deaths (YLL) and reduced disability burden (YLD).

How it works

Enter the number of deaths prevented by the intervention.
Provide the average age at death and standard life expectancy for your population.
Enter the number of disability cases averted along with average disability duration and the disability weight (0–1 scale).
The calculator applies the standard DALY formula: DALYs = YLL + YLD.
YLL = deaths prevented × remaining life expectancy; YLD = cases × duration × disability weight.
Review the breakdown of YLL, YLD, and total DALYs averted.

Use cases

Evaluate the health impact of vaccination programs or disease prevention campaigns.
Compare cost-effectiveness across multiple health interventions using a common metric.
Support global health funding proposals with quantified burden-of-disease estimates.
Estimate disease burden reduction for grant applications and policy briefs.
Assess the impact of early screening programs on disability-adjusted outcomes.
Model the effect of treatment scale-up on population-level DALYs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-07-23 · Reviewed by Nham Vu