Standard burden of disease measures identify differences in disease patterns and trends for a population, but do not always look for differences within the population. We need a different approach to thinking about and measuring burden of disease—one that considers the social determinants of health and the effects of inequity.
Publications
More than just numbers: Exploring the concept of “burden of disease”
Backgrounder on common concepts and measures of disease burden used in population and public health. It also reflects on emerging interpretations of disease burden and suggests questions that might be asked of those writing and speaking about burden of disease.
Framing Burden: Towards a new framework for measuring burden of disease in Canada
A concept paper intended to act as a starting point for a critical examination of burden of disease, with the longer-term goal of developing a framework to guide transparent, fair, meaningful, and practical measures of burden.
Reducing the Burden of Influenza-Like Illness in Canada: A National Consultation on Useful Products for Public Health Practitioners (Proceedings)
The goal of this 2013 consultation was to gather input on the type of knowledge products that would be useful to public health practitioners.
Understanding the Measurement of Global Burden of Disease
Public health practitioners need to understand burden of illness to help set priorities. This document explains the principles and methods of the 2012 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) international project.
Understanding Summary Measures Used to Estimate the Burden of Disease: All about HALYs, DALYs and QALYs
An introduction to commonly used measures of burden of illness. The ability to consistently describe the relative importance of diseases is important for public health decision-making and planning.