QALY
Medical abbreviation · Medical Research
| Stands for | Quality-adjusted life year |
|---|---|
| Categories | Medical |
QALY stands for Quality-adjusted life year, a medical research abbreviation.
Measure combining length and quality of life, in which one year in perfect health equals one QALY and a year in a health state valued at 0.5 equals half a QALY. Health economists use QALYs to compare the value of treatments across different diseases.
Example: The therapy gains 0.8 QALYs at an extra cost of $120,000, or $150,000 per QALY.
Usage notes
England's NICE has historically considered treatments costing roughly £20,000 to £30,000 per QALY gained to be cost-effective. Critics argue that QALYs can undervalue life extension for people with disabilities, and US law restricts their use by some federal programs, including Medicare. Pronounced "KWAH-lee".
Related abbreviations
More medical research abbreviations
- PMID – PubMed identifier
- PP – Per-protocol (analysis)
- PPV – Positive predictive value
- PRISMA – Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
- PRO – Patient-reported outcome
- PROM – Patient-reported outcome measure
- QoL – Quality of life
- RCT – Randomized controlled trial
- ROC – Receiver operating characteristic
- RR – Relative risk
- RRR – Relative risk reduction
- RWD – Real-world data
See all 94 medical research abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.