Quantitative Research Methods for Health Professionals: A Practical Interactive Course is a superb introduction to epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methodology for the whole health care community.Drawing examples from a wide range of health research, this practical handbook covers important contemporary health research methods such as survival analysis, Cox regression, and meta-analysis, the understanding of which go beyond introductory concepts.
The book includes self-assessment exercises throughout to help students explore and reflect on their understanding and a clear distinction is made between a) knowledge and concepts that all students should ensure they understand and b) those that can be pursued by students who wish to do so.
The authors incorporate a program of practical exercises in SPSS using a prepared data set that helps to consolidate the theory and develop skills and confidence in data handling, analysis and interpretation.
Author(s): Nigel Bruce, Daniel Pope, Debbi Stanistreet
Edition: 1
Publisher: Wiley-Interscience
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 552
Tags: Медицинские дисциплины;Социальная медицина и медико-биологическая статистика;
Quantitative Methods for Health Research......Page 3
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 11
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 17
1.1 Approaches to scientific research......Page 18
1.2 Formulating a research question......Page 25
1.3 Rates: incidence and prevalence......Page 28
1.4 Concepts of prevention......Page 34
1.5 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 37
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 45
2.1 Routine collection of health information......Page 46
2.2 Descriptive epidemiology......Page 54
2.3 Information on the environment......Page 62
2.4 Displaying, describing and presenting data......Page 64
2.5 Summary of routinely available data......Page 94
2.6 Descriptive epidemiology in action......Page 103
2.7 Overview of epidemiological study designs......Page 107
2.8 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 110
3.1 Health inequalities in Merseyside......Page 127
3.2 Indirect standardisation: calculation of the standardised mortality ratio (SMR)......Page 130
3.3 Direct standardisation......Page 135
3.4 Standardisation for factors other than age......Page 139
3.5 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 140
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 145
4.1 Purpose and context......Page 146
4.2 Sampling methods......Page 149
4.3 The sampling frame......Page 159
4.4 Sampling error, confidence intervals and sample size......Page 161
4.5 Response......Page 176
4.6 Measurement......Page 180
4.7 Data types and presentation......Page 195
4.8 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 200
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 209
5.1 Why do a cohort study?......Page 210
5.2 Obtaining the sample......Page 212
5.3 Measurement......Page 215
5.4 Follow-up......Page 218
5.5 Basic presentation and analysis of results......Page 221
5.6 How large should a cohort study be?......Page 239
5.7 Confounding......Page 242
5.8 Simple linear regression......Page 248
5.9 Introduction to multiple linear regression......Page 259
5.10 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 265
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 273
6.1 Why do a case-control study?......Page 275
6.2 Key elements of study design......Page 281
6.3 Basic unmatched and matched analysis......Page 289
6.4 Sample size for a case-control study......Page 297
6.5 Confounding and logistic regression......Page 300
6.6 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 314
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 323
7.1 Why do an intervention study?......Page 325
7.2 Key elements of intervention study design......Page 328
7.3 The analysis of intervention studies......Page 334
7.4 Testing more complex interventions......Page 343
7.5 How big should the trial be?......Page 347
7.6 Further aspects of intervention study design and analysis......Page 351
7.7 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 367
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 379
8.1 Survival analysis......Page 380
8.2 Cox regression......Page 395
8.3 Current life tables......Page 401
8.4 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 405
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 409
9.1 The why and how of systematic reviews......Page 411
9.2 The methodology of meta-analysis......Page 425
9.3 Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies......Page 438
9.4 The Cochrane Collaboration......Page 442
9.5 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 445
10 Prevention strategies and evaluation of screening......Page 449
Introduction and learning objectives......Page 487
10.1 Concepts of risk......Page 450
10.2 Strategies of prevention......Page 454
10.3 Evaluation of screening programmes......Page 462
10.4 Cohort and period effects......Page 473
10.5 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 480
11.1 Probability distributions......Page 489
11.2 Data that do not ‘fit’ a probability distribution......Page 498
11.3 Hypothesis testing......Page 504
11.4 Choosing an appropriate hypothesis test......Page 531
11.5 Bayesian methods......Page 535
11.6 Answers to self-assessment exercises......Page 539
References......Page 543
Index......Page 545
