Meaning
The meaning and usefulness of the QALY is debated. Perfect health is hard, if not impossible, to define. Some argue that there are health states worse than being dead, and that therefore there should be negative values possible on the health spectrum (indeed, some health economists have incorporated negative values into calculations). Determining the level of health depends on measures that some argue place disproportionate importance on physical pain or disability over mental health. The effects of a patient's health on the quality of life of others (e.g. caregivers or family) do not figure into these calculations.
Read more about this topic: Quality-adjusted Life Year
Famous quotes containing the word meaning:
“In love, we worry more about the meaning of silences than the meaning of words.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“‘Tis good to give a stranger a meal or a night’s lodging. ‘Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Shall we go learn to kiss, to kiss?
Never heart could ever miss
Comfort, where true meaning is.”
—Nicholas Breton (1542–1626)