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    Medical Statistics Made Easy 2e - now superseded by 3e
    Medical Statistics Made Easy 2e - now superseded by 3e
    Medical Statistics Made Easy 2e - now superseded by 3e
    Ebook135 pages1 hour

    Medical Statistics Made Easy 2e - now superseded by 3e

    By M. Harris and G. Taylor

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    About this ebook

    This new edition of Medical Statistics Made Easy 2nd edition enables readers to understand the key statistical techniques used throughout the medical literature.

    Featuring a comprehensive updating of the 'Statistics at work' section, this new edition retains a consistent, concise, and user-friendly format. Each technique is graded for ease of use and frequency of appearance in the mainstream medical journals.

    Medical Statistics Made Easy 2nd edition is essential reading for anyone looking to understand:

    * confidence intervals and probability values
    * numbers needed to treat
    * t tests and other parametric tests
    * survival analysis

    If you need to understand the medical literature, then you need to read this book.

    Reviews:
    "This book helps medical students understand the basic concepts of medical statistics starting in a 'step-by-step approach'. The authors have designed the book assuming that the reader has no prior knowledge. It focuses on the most common statistical concepts that are likely to be faced in medical literature.
    All chapters are concise and simple to understand. Each chapter starts with an introduction which consists of “how important” that particular statistical concept is, using a 'star' system. A 'thumbs-up' system shows how easy the statistical concept is to understand. Both these systems indicate time-efficient learning allowing yourself to focus on areas you find most difficult. Following this, there are worked out examples with exam-tips at the end of some chapters.
    The last chapter, 'Statistics at Work', shows how medical statistics is put into practice using worked out examples from renowned journals. This helps in assessing the reader’s own knowledge and gives them confidence in analysis of statistics of a journal.
    In conclusion, we would recommend this book as an introduction into medical statistics before plunging into the deep 'statistical' waters! It gives confidence to the reader in taking up the challenge of understanding statistics and [being] able to apply knowledge in analysing medical literature."
    Stefanie Zhao Lin Lip & Louise Murchison, Scottish Medical Journal, June 2010

    "If ever there was a book that completely lived up to its title, this is it...Perhaps above everything, it is the chapter layout and design that makes this book stand out head and shoulders above the crowd. At the beginning of each chapter two questions are posed – how important is the subject in question and how difficult is it to understand? The first is answered on the basis of how often the subject is mentioned / used in papers published in mainstream medical journals. A star rating is then given from one to five with five stars implying use in the majority of papers published. The second question is answered by means of a ‘thumbs up’ grading system. The more thumbs, the easier the concept is to understand (maximum of five). This, of course, provides a route into statistics for even the most idle of uneducated individuals! Five stars and five thumbs must surely indicate time-efficient learning! At the end of each chapter exam tips (light bulb icon!) are given – I doubt anyone could ask for more!
    The whole way in which the authors have written this book is commendable; the chapters are succinct, easy to follow and a pleasure to read...Is it value for money? – a definite yes even at twice the price. Of course I never exaggerate but if you breathe, you should own this book!"
    Ian Pearce, Urology News, June 2010


    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScion Publishing
    Release dateFeb 29, 2008
    ISBN9781907904097
    Medical Statistics Made Easy 2e - now superseded by 3e

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      Book preview

      Medical Statistics Made Easy 2e - now superseded by 3e - M. Harris

      MEDICAL STATISTICS MADE EASY 2

      MEDICAL STATISTICS MADE EASY 2

      Michael Harris

      General Practitioner and Senior Lecturer in Medical Education, Bristol, UK

      and

      Gordon Taylor

      Senior Lecturer in Medical Statistics, University of Bath, UK

      Second edition © Scion Publishing Ltd, 2008

      ebook ISBN 978 1 904842 55 2

      First edition published in 2003 by Martin Dunitz (ISBN 1 85996 219 X)

      Reprinted 2004, 2005, 2007

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission.

      A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Scion Publishing Limited

      Bloxham Mill, Barford Road, Bloxham, Oxfordshire OX15 4FF

      www.scionpublishing.com

      Important Note from the Publisher

      The information contained within this book was obtained by Scion Publishing Limited from sources believed by us to be reliable. However, while every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, no responsibility for loss or injury whatsoever occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of information contained herein can be accepted by the authors or publishers.

      Although every effort has been made to ensure that all owners of copyright material have been acknowledged in this publication, we would be pleased to acknowledge in subsequent reprints or editions any omissions brought to our attention.

      Typeset by Phoenix Photosetting, Chatham, Kent, UK

      Printed by Gutenberg Press Ltd, Malta

      Abbreviations

      Preface

      About the authors

      Foreword

      How to use this book

      How this book is designed

      Statistics which describe data

      Percentages

      Mean

      Median

      Mode

      Standard deviation

      Statistics which test confidence

      Confidence intervals

      P values

      Statistics which test differences

      t tests and other parametric tests

      Mann–Whitney and other non-parametric tests

      Chi-squared test

      Statistics which compare risk

      Risk ratio

      Odds ratio

      Risk reduction and numbers needed to treat

      Statistics which analyze relationships

      Correlation

      Regression

      Statistics which analyze survival

      Survival analysis: life tables and Kaplan–Meier plots

      The Cox regression model

      Statistics which analyze clinical investigations and screening

      Sensitivity, specificity and predictive value

      Level of agreement and Kappa

      Other concepts

      Statistics at work

      Standard deviation, relative risk and numbers needed to treat

      Odds ratios and confidence intervals

      Correlation and regression

      Survival analysis

      Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values

      Glossary

      Index

      This book is designed for healthcare students and professionals who need a basic knowledge of when common statistical terms are used and what they mean.

      Whether you love or hate statistics, you need to have some understanding of the subject if you want to critically appraise a paper. To do this, you do not need to know how to do a statistical analysis. What you do need is to know why the test has been used and how to interpret the resulting figures.

      This book does not assume that you have any prior statistical knowledge. However basic your mathematical or statistical knowledge, you will find that everything is clearly explained.

      A few readers will find some of the sections ridiculously simplistic, others will find some bafflingly difficult. The thumbs up grading will help you pick out concepts that suit your level of understanding.

      The star system is designed to help you pick out the most important concepts if you are short of time.

      This book is also produced for those who may be asked about statistics in an exam. Pick out the exam tips sections if you are in a hurry.

      You can test your understanding of what you have learnt by working through extracts from original papers in the Statistics at work section.

      Dr Michael Harris MB BS FRCGP MMEd is a General Practitioner and Senior Lecturer in Medical Education in Bristol, UK. He teaches nurses, medical students and GP Registrars. Until recently he was an examiner for the MRCGP.

      Dr Gordon Taylor PhD MSc BSc (Hons) is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Statistics at the University of Bath, UK. His main role is in the teaching, support and supervision of health care professionals involved in non-commercial research.

      A love of statistics is, oddly, not what attracts most young people to a career in medicine and I suspect that many clinicians, like me, have at best a sketchy and incomplete understanding of this difficult subject.

      Delivering modern, high quality care to patients now relies increasingly on routine reference to scientific papers and journals, rather than traditional textbook learning. Acquiring the skills to appraise medical research papers is a daunting task. Realizing this, Michael Harris and Gordon Taylor have expertly constructed a practical guide for the busy clinician. One a practising NHS doctor, the other a medical statistician with tremendous experience in clinical research, they have produced a unique handbook. It is short, readable and useful, without becoming overly bogged down in the mathematical detail that frankly puts so many of us off the subject.

      I commend this book to all healthcare professionals, general practitioners and hospital specialists. It covers all the ground necessary to critically evaluate the statistical elements of medical research papers, in a friendly and approachable way. The scoring of each brief chapter in terms of usefulness and ease of comprehension will efficiently guide the busy practitioner through his or her reading. In particular it is almost unique in covering this part of the syllabus for

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