The impact of illness on individual lives and society at large was once considered too vast to gauge. More recently, quantitative measures of quality of life, life expectancy, and the financial costs of illness and treatment are showing not only how this impact can be calculated but also how the results can be used to further research and improve public health. The Handbook of Disease Burdens and Quality of Life Measures is the first comprehensive reference to these instruments and their findings on an international scale. The Handbook features in-depth reviews of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), quality of life and financial measures for over 120 diseases and conditions. Its editors have organized this critical information for maximum access and ease of use, with abstracts, definitions of key terms, summary points, and dozens of figures and tables that can enhance the text or stand alone. Readers may access data by country, region, or population, or by disease entity. - Publisher.