Applied Medical Statistics

Currently, there is growth in the evidence-based medicine movement and a commitment of medical journals to improve the statistical rigor of papers they publish. The ability to conduct appropriate statistical design and proper analysis have become pivotal in most areas of health research, making statistics an indispensable component of medical school curriculum. This book will provide medical students and medical research practitioners with a clear, coherent and readable introduction to basic statistical concepts, and will help readers master the most commonly-used statistical methods. Beyond the emphasis of mastering fundamental concepts and analysis techniques, this book will help readers develop a critical understanding of the basic rationale of statistical analysis techniques.

The book will start with some basic concepts in statistics, including basic terms and definitions, location and spread of a distribution of data, population parameters estimation and rationales of statistical hypothesis test. Some fundamental concepts of probability theory will be also involved in this section. Following that, some commonly used statistical methods, such as t test, analysis of variance and linear regression will be introduced in sufficient detail. Some advanced analysis topics will also be covered to cater the rapid development of statistical analysis, including multiple linear regression and correlation, logistic regression and survival analysis, and the coverage of these topics highlight their specific and important roles in the medical statistical analysis.

There is no requirement of specialized mathematics background for the readers of this book. Although supplementary reading is not necessary, readers could gain a deeper understanding of the topics in this book by referencing other introductory book for probability and statistics as supplementary reading materials.

All of these topics will be introduced at an appropriate level for non-statisticians and to ensure that the content is practical and interactive, all methods described will be illustrated with up-to-date examples based on real-world medical research. At the end of each chapter, substantive exercises and case discussions will be provided to solidify the concepts and give the students an opportunity of evaluating different research scenario critically.