Table of Contents

Medical Uncertainties
Role of Biostatistics
Uncertainties in Health and Disease
Uncertainties in Medical Research
Uncertainties in Health Planning and Evaluation
Management of Uncertainties: About This Book

Basics of Medical Studies
Study Protocol
Types of Medical Studies
Data Collection
Nonsampling Errors and Other Biases

Sampling Methods
Sampling Concepts
Common Methods of Random Sampling
Some Other Methods of Sampling

Designs for Observational Studies
Some Basic Concepts
Prospective Studies
Retrospective Studies.
Cross-Sectional Studies
Comparative Performance of Prospective, Retrospective, and Cross-Sectional Studies

Medical Experiments
Basic Features of Medical Experiments
Design of Experiments
Choice and Sampling of Units for Laboratory Experiments6

Clinical Trials
Therapeutic Trials
Issues in Clinical Trials
Trials Other than Therapeutics

Numerical Methods for Representing Variation
Types of Measurement
Tabular Presentation
Rates and Ratios
Central and Other Locations
Measuring Variability

Presentation of Variation by Figures
Graphs for Frequency Distribution
Pie, Bar, and Line Diagrams
Special Diagrams in Health and Medicine
Charts and Maps

Some Quantitative Aspects of Medicine
Some Epidemiological Measures of Health and Disease
Reference Values
Measurement of Uncertainty: Probability
Validity of Medical Tests
Search for the Best Threshold of Continuous Test: ROC Curve

Clinimetrics and Evidence-Based Medicine
Indicators, Indexes, and Scores
Clinimetrics
Evidence-Based Medicine

Measurement of Community Health
Indicators of Mortality
Measures of Morbidity
Indicators of Social and Mental Health
Composite Indexes of Health

Confidence Intervals, Principles of Tests of Significance, and Sample Size
Sampling Distributions
Confidence Intervals
P-Values and Statistical Significance
Assessing Gaussian Pattern
Initial Debate on Statistical Significance
Sample Size Determination in Some Cases

Inference from Proportions
One Qualitative Variable
Proportions in 2 x 2 Tables
Analysis of R x C Tables (Large n)
Three-Way Tables
Assessment of Association in Three-Way Tables

Relative Risk and Odds Ratio
Relative and Attributable Risks (Large n)
Odds Ratio
Stratified Analysis, Sample Size, and Meta Analysis

Inference from Means
Comparison of Means in One and Two Groups (Gaussian Conditions): Student t-Test
Comparison of Means in Three or More Groups (Gaussian Conditions): ANOVA F-Test
Non-Gaussian Conditions: Nonparametric Tests for Location
When Significant Is Not Significant

Relationships: Quantitative Data
Some General Features of a Regression Setup
Linear Regression Models
Some Issues in Linear Regression
Measuring the Strength of Quantitative Relationship
Assessment of Quantitative Agreement

Relationships: Qualitative Dependent.
Binary Dependent: Logistic Regression (Large n)
Inference from Logistic Coefficients
Issues in Logistic Regression
Some Models for Qualitative Data and Generalizations
Strength of Relationship in Qualitative Variables

Survival Analysis
Life Expectancy
Analysis of Survival Data
Issues in Survival Analysis

Simultaneous Consideration of Several Variables
Scope of Multivariate Methods
Dependent and Independent Sets of Variables
Identification of Structure in the Observations

Quality Considerations
Statistical Quality Control in Medical Care
Quality of Measurements
Quality of Statistical Models: Robustness
Quality of Data

Statistical Fallacies
Problems with the Sample
Inadequate Analysis
Errors in Presentation of Findings
Misinterpretation

Appendix A: Statistical Software
Appendix B: Some Statistical Tables
Appendix C: Software Illustrations

Reviews

"… the author has very well succeeded to make this edition more complete and useful. … the book is clearly written and easy to read and comprehend the various statistical and methodological issues and their applicability. … I strongly feel that this book is an important source to acquire the desired skills regarding biostatistical applications, with a focus on basic principles, applications, and interpretation. Also, one may find it equally helpful in understanding any research article and its critical appraisal."
—ISCB News, December 2014 "The third edition of Medical Biostatistics presents an almost complete reference for medical and biostatistics professionals, covering many topics in introductory and intermediate biostatistics. … a good resource for an undergraduate course in biostatistics or related fields. … The strengths of the book are the examples used throughout and the comprehensive coverage in terms of number of topics, which makes the book look like an encyclopedia. It is a great reference for a researcher in the medical or biostatistics field who is not concerned about mathematical derivations."
—Morteza Marzjarani, Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 2014 "With its focus on in-depth medical and health applications and conceptual understanding of biostatics, this book is highly recommended to medical and other health science researchers who desire to better understand medical literature or for improved interpretation of their results for publications and presentations. … a worthy reference book that each medical and health researcher should have a copy of in his or her personal library. Additionally, with the vast number of real-life medical-based examples, this book can also serve as useful supplemental reading for an applied graduate-level course on medical or health statistics."
—Yongzhao Shao, Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics, 24, 2014 "The most impressive feature of the book is its broad scope; it covers most of the topics that are commonly used in epidemiology and biostatistics. … a well-written and well-organized book designed for researchers and professionals in the fields of medicine and health. … Numerous medical examples will help readers understand the way statistics is used in medicine."
—Biometrics, December 2013 Praise for the Second Edition:
The 2nd edition contains a number of new, expanded or revised topics, including full chapters on clinical trials, observational studies, survival analysis and logistic regression. …The explanations given are clear and well written. The concepts are well illustrated with real examples. …this is a comprehensive and thoughtful introductory book on biostatistics. …
—Andrew Hayen, University of Sydney, Statistics in Medicine, 2010, 29 The book contains a fairly comprehensive introduction of basic statistical concepts and methods used in medical and health sciences. The basic idea is to give clear verbal explanations with good examples, avoiding heavy mathematical definitions or formulations. My opinion is that the author has succeeded very well in this challenging task. By the aid of the book, it should be relatively easy to get the main ideas, and if deeper understanding is needed, a list of further references is provided to each topic. … I can easily recommend this book for persons working in the area of medical biostatistics.
—International Statistical Review, 2009, 77, 2 The strength of this book is the range of topics, including research design and statistical methods for data analysis, and the fact that it focuses on conceptual understanding. The book contains adequate mathematical explanation, without going beyond the capability or interest of the intended audience. … contains much useful information … .
—Marc Levine, University of British Colombia, Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, Vol. 61, No. 1, January-February 2008 In addition to thorough coverage of basic biostatical concepts and methods, this updated edition of Medical Biostatistics is enhanced with complete chapters on clinical trials, observational studies, laboratory experiments, survival analysis, and logistic regression … Medical Biostatistics is an indispensable textbook and a core addition to academic library and medical school research and reference collections.
—James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review, April 2009 Praise for the First Edition:
The book covers a wealth of information ranging from medical uncertainties to statistical fallacies. … a tour of the biostatistical field in clear and intelligent language…
—Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 52, 2003 To clinicians and other medical and health professionals, it will be of great help in planning and conducting investigational studies and in critically interpreting the medical literature, which is becoming increasingly statistical…
—Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 97, 2002 There is plenty of good advice about practical matters of presentation and interpretation, which, together with the chapter on statistical fallacies, make the book worthwhile reading for the user of biostatistics who may need such guidance…
—Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics, Vol. 44, 2002 This book contains state-of-the-art statistical methods with examples and references to planning of medical data collection, analyzing and interpreting the data…
—Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation, Vol. 74, 2004 This book is a serious attempt to medicalise the science of biostatistics and discuss statistical methods entirely from the perspective of medical and health professionals…
—Resources for Teaching Statistics A very complete book on all aspects of medical biostatistics: probably the most complete book on biostatistics we have seen.
—Analyse-it