Quality Adjusted Life Years measure?

• A. Direct medical costs
• B. Intangible costs due to non-fatal injuries and reduced quality of life
• C. Vehicle repair costs
• D. Crash frequency

Answer: (B)

Quality Adjusted Life Years capture how long people live and how good or bad their health is during those years. They put a weight on each year of life based on health quality (from 0 for death to 1 for perfect health), so the total QALYs reflect both the quantity of life and the quality of that life. This directly represents the intangible impact of health states, such as non-fatal injuries and reduced quality of life, not just how long someone survives.

That’s why it’s the best answer: QALYs measure health outcomes related to living with injury or illness, incorporating the reduction in well-being, and they’re used in analyses to compare the value of different interventions. They aren’t direct medical costs, vehicle repair costs, or crash counts, which are separate metrics. For example, one year lived at full health equals 1 QALY, while one year lived with a health state valued at 0.6 equals 0.6 QALYs.