4083.0: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - 9:45 AM

Abstract #7152

Validation of the global health measure 'Disease adjusted life years' (DALY) using ESRD-Microdata

Stefan Gawrich and Ulrich Mueller. Institute for Medical Sociology and Social Medicine, Medical School Marburg, Germany, Bunsenstr. 2, Marburg, 35033, Germany

The ongoing Study 'The Global burden of disease' (GBD), first published in 1996 by researchers of WHO, Worldbank and Harvard School of Public Health is the first comprehensive assessment of global disease-specific health burden and has gained wide attention in the fields of epidemiology, medical demography and public health. Because of limited data availiability and lack of a gold standard for measuring burden of disease the DALY-Measure has to rely on basic epidemiological and demographic data and a set of subjective value choices like disease-specific disability weights, age weighting or future health discounting. Lacking a standard rule for quantifying burden, a validation must focus on the usefulness of the DALY-Model for its specified areas of use. By eliminating the factor 'lack of data' using panel microdata of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) provided by the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) extensive analysis on these topic has been done. ESRD was choosen as an example for a disease with growing importance in developed countries facing demographic and epidemiological transition. Key findings to be presented: - Review of Data requirements and ways of adapting the DALY-Model to microdata sets. - Results of a sensitivity analysis concerning the DALY-age-weighting-pattern for age-specific diseases like ESRD.

Learning Objectives: The participants will learn the basics of the DALY-Indicator They will learn about the most important inherent methodological problems of DALYs I will show one approach to use the global DALY Indicator with microdata. The validity problems of DALYs will be shown by the presentation of a sensitivity analysis focussing on the age-weighting factor The participants will afterwards be able to jugde and dixcuss pros and cons of global health measures with inherent subjective value choices

Keywords: Epidemiology, Methodology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: USRDS (United States Renal Data System) DALY by WHO, Worldbank and Harvard School of Public Health
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA