Meaning of "to quantify the burden"

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Suyash - 20 Jul 2009 13:14 GMT

What the the expression "to quantify the burden" mean in the following
sentence:

"Since expert opinion has deemed the current treatment of X withY as
suboptimal, the goal of this study is to quantify the burden of X by
evaluating patient records and patient perceptions."

I would appreciate your kind help.

Regards,

Suyash

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Suyash - 20 Jul 2009 13:18 GMT

> What the the expression "to quantify the burden" mean in the following
> sentence:
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Suyash

I should have written:

"What DOES the expression "to quantify the burden" mean in the
following sentence:"

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 20 Jul 2009 13:52 GMT

>> What the the expression "to quantify the burden" mean in the following
>> sentence:
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>"What DOES the expression "to quantify the burden" mean in the
>following sentence:"

"Quantify the burden" seems to be a common phrase used in discussing
diseases.

Looking at a few examples found by Googling for the phrase it seems that
the burden of a disease on a population is the effect it has in making
people sick and causing the death of some. "Quantifying" is the process
of discovering the statistics: the number of people affected in various
ways.

So, "to quantify the burden" is to collect numerical data about the
effects of a disease on a population. This would presumably include data
suach as the percentage of the people for whom the disease is mild and
who do not need treatment, the percentage for whom it is more serious
and who can be treated at home, the percentage for whom it is more
serious but need treatment in hospital, and the percentage for whom it
is fatal.

For example:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150844.php

European Paediatric Influenza Analysis (EPIA) Group Formed To
Quantify The Burden Of Seasonal Influenza In Children In Europe

Signature

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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Glenn Knickerbocker - 20 Jul 2009 19:24 GMT

> the burden of a disease on a population is the effect it has in making
> people sick and causing the death of some. "Quantifying" is the process
> of discovering the statistics: the number of people affected in various
> ways.

From http://www.who.int/topics/global_burden_of_disease/en/ :

> The WHO global burden of disease (GBD) measures burden of disease
> using the disability-adjusted life year (DALY). This time-based
> measure combines years of life lost due to premature mortality and
> years of life lost due to time lived in states of less than full
> health.

"Quantifying" it, then, is not so much compiling the set of statistics
as boiling them all down to a single measure, the mean number of years
lost per person.

In the context of the question, though, I have to wonder if the measure
is in monetary cost rather than time, for example, in lost income due to
disability. The intent is clearly to compare the cost of living with X
to the cost of treatment with Y.

¬R

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

Meaning of "to quantify the burden"