Main description:

Practical Biostatistics: A Step-by-Step Approach for Evidence-Based Medicine, Second Edition presents a complete resource of biostatistical knowledge meant for health sciences students, researchers and health care professionals. The book's content covers the investigator's hypothesis, collective health, observational studies, the biostatistics of intervention studies, clinical trials and additional concepts. Chapters are written in a didactic way, making them easier to comprehend by readers with little or no background on statistics. Evidence-based medicine aims to apply the best available evidence gained from the scientific method to medical decision-making using statistical analyses of scientific methods and outcomes to drive further experimentation and diagnosis.

With a detailed outline of implementation steps complemented by a review of important topics, this book can be used as a quick reference or hands-on guide on how to effectively incorporate biostatistics in clinical trials and research projects.

Contents:

Part 1: The Investigator's Hypothesis 1. Investigator's Hypothesis and Expression of its Corresponding Outcome

Part 2: Collective Health 2. Disease Frequency Measures 3. Health Indicators 4. Epidemiological Studies 5. Pharmacoeconomics

Part 3: Observational Studies 6. Basic Concepts in Observational Studies 7. Determination of Association Strength Between an Exposure Factor and an Event in Observational Studies 8. Increasing Accuracy in Observational Studies

Part 4: Biostatistics of Intervention Studies - The Clinical Trials 9. The Intervention Studies 10. N Estimation and N Assessment of a Published Trial 11. Organization of Variables and Endpoints 12. Measures for Results Expression of a Clinical Trial 13. Determination of Normality or Non-Normality of Data Distribution 14. Hypothesis Testing 15. Correlating Sample Data with the General Population - 95% Confidence Interval Summarizing the Steps

Part 5: Additional Concepts in Biostatistics 16. Individual and Collective Benefit and Risk Indexes Inferable from Intervention Studies 17. Statistical Assessment of Diagnostic Tests for the Clinic 18. Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 19. Correlation and Regression 20. Per Protocol Analysis and Intention-to-Treat Analysis