Main description:

A Concise Guide to Observational Studies in Healthcare provides busy healthcare professionals with an easy-to-read introduction and overview to conducting, analysing and assessing observational studies. It is a suitable introduction for anyone without prior knowledge of study design, analysis or conduct as the important concepts are presented throughout the text. It provides an overview to the features of design, analyses and conduct of observational studies, without using mathematical formulae, or complex statistics or terminology and is a useful guide for researchers conducting their own studies, those who participate in studies co-ordinated by others, or who read or review a published report of an observational study. Examples are based on clinical features of people, biomarkers, lifestyle habits and environmental exposures, and evaluating quality of care.

Contents:

Foreword vii Preface viii 1 Fundamental concepts 1 2 Outcome measures risk factors and causality 26 3 Effect sizes 47 4 Regression analyses 66 5 Cross-sectional studies 82 6 Case control studies 108 7 Cohort studies 135 8 Quality of care studies 157 9 Prognostic markers for predicting outcomes 171 10 Systematic reviews and meta-analyses 196 11 Conducting and reporting observational studies 216 Index 239