Cross-national comparability of burden of disease estimates: the European Disability Weights Project

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sources of cross-national variation in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in the European Disability Weights Project. METHODS: Disability weights for 15 disease stages were derived empirically in five countries by means of a standardized procedure and the cross-national differences in visual analogue scale (VAS) scores were analysed. For each country the burden of dementia in women, used as an illustrative example, was estimated in DALYs. An analysis was performed of the relative effects of cross-national variations in demography, epidemiology and disability w... Mehr ...