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), ... Read morequality 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, e.g.:

• Cardiovascular and pulmonary, including hypertension, stroke, and COPD.
• Viral, bacterial, microbial, parasitic, and other infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, encephalitis, and dengue fever, plus vaccination issues.
• Cancer, including breast, prostate, cervical, colorectal, and pediatric.
• Psychosocial, psychiatric, sensory, and addictive (drugs, alcohol, tobacco) disorders.
• Topics ranging from toxic exposure (injection contamination, occupational hazards, environmental pollutants), to special populations (children, the elderly in China, the city of Los Angeles), to commonly-occurring conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, menopause, macular degeneration).
• Plus chapters discuss specific measures for assessing health and disease impact, such as the WHOQoL questionnaire, the SF-36 Short-Form Health Survey, and the Quality of Life in Later Life Questionnaire.

The Handbook’s broad coverage and meticulous, up-to-date detail make it essential for public health researchers in the area of quality of life.