Health Risk Factors and Quality of Life

Smoking, Alcohol, Inactivity and Obesity

QALYs (quality-adjusted life years) are a way researchers can look at the total impact of a risk factor on quality of life. QALYs combine reductions in life expectancy with loss of health causing disability and pain. The calculations can be complex, but the way to think about QALYs is the number of healthy, disability-free years of life. Here are some risk factors and their QALY number.

Smoking and Quality of Life

A 25 year old who smokes can expect to lose 10 to 11 QALYs compared to a person who never smoked.

High Alcohol Consumption and Quality of Life

A 25 year old who drinks can expect to loose 5 (men) or 3 (women) QALYs compared to someone who drinks less.

Physical Activity and Quality of Life

A 25 year old who is inactive can expect to lose 7 QALYs compared to someone who is active.

Obesity and Quality of Life

An obese 25 year old can expect to lose 3 (men) or 6 (women) QALYs compared to a person with healthy weight.

Quality of Life and Risk Factors

As the numbers above show, health risk factors impact more than just life expectancy -- they decrease a person's health span (the number of years a person lives without illness or disability). Remember that when looking at these numbers, a 25-year-old person has about 55 years of life remaining (on average, give or take). The goal is to have 55 QALYs as well (in other have all those years be healthy). A loss of 5.5 QALYs means a loss of 10% of potential health. That is extremely significant. So eliminate those risk factors and regain your QALYs.

_Source:

_{Brønnum-Hansen H, Juel K, Davidsen M, Sørensen J. Impact of selected risk factors on quality-adjusted life expectancy in Denmark.Scand J Public Health. 2007 May 4;:1-6.}