Basic Statistics and Epidemiology: A Practical Guide

by Antony Stewart

Overview

This straightforward primer in basic statistics and epidemiology emphasises their practical use in healthcare and public health, providing understanding of essential topics such as study design, data analysis and statistical methods used in the execution of medical research. Assuming no prior knowledge, the clarity of the text and care of presentation ensure those new to, or challenged by, these topics are given a thorough introduction without being overwhelmed by unnecessary detail.

Key features:

• Provides an excellent grounding in the basics of both statistics and epidemiology
• Full step-by-step guidance on performing statistical calculations
• Numerous examples and exercises with detailed answers to help readers navigate these complex subjects with ease and confidence
• Enables students and practitioners to make sense of the many research studies that underpin evidence-based practice
• Fully revised and updated for this fifth edition, now with additional exercises and question and answers online for self-testing

An understanding and appreciation of statistics is central to ensuring that professional practice is based on the best available evidence, in order to best treat and help the wider community. Reading this book will help students, researchers, doctors, nurses, and health managers to understand and apply the tools of statistics and epidemiology to their own practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367708153
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	02/04/2022
Edition description:	5th ed.
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Professor Antony Stewart, FFPH, Emeritus Professor, Staffordshire University; Honorary Professor in Epidemiology, Aston Medical School; Honorary Consultant in Public Health, Public Health England; Clinical Research Specialty Lead for Public Health, NIHR CRN West Midlands UK

Table of Contents

1. What Are Statistics? 2. Populations and Samples. 3. Random Sampling. 4. Presenting Data. 5. Frequencies, Percentages, Proportions and Rates. 6. Types of Data. 7. Mean, Median and Mode. 8. Centiles. 9. Standard Deviation. 10. Standard Error. 11. Normal Distribution. 12. Confidence Intervals. 13. Probability. 14. Hypothesis Tests and P-Values. 15. The t-Tests. 16.Data Checking. 17. Parametric and Non-Parametric Tests. 18. Correlation and Linear Regression. 19. Analysis of Variance and Some Other Types of Regression. 20. Chi-Squared Test. 21. Statistical Power and Sample Size. 22. Effect Size. 23. What Is Epidemiology? 24. Bias and Confounding. 25. Measuring Disease Frequency. 26. Measuring Association in Epidemiology. 27. Cross-sectional studies. 28. Questionnaires. 29. Cohort Studies. 30. Case–Control Studies. 31. Randomised Controlled Trials. 32. Screening. 33.Evidence-Based Healthcare. Glossary of Terms. Appendix 1-Statistical Tables. Appendix 2-Exercises. Appendix 3-Answers to Exercises. References. Index.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Anjali Deshpande, PhD, MPH (University of Iowa College of Public Health)
Description: This book covers the basics of statistics and epidemiology with an emphasis on their practical use in health care and public health. The book covers topics such as study design, data analysis, and statistical methods. It assumes no prior knowledge with these topics. This is a fifth edition book; the previous edition was published in 2016.
Purpose: The purpose of the book is to cover topics that are relevant to people who want to grasp the main issues of statistics and epidemiology "with minimum fuss." The author states that "the avoidance of too much detail has been an important goal." The author has captured the essence of the most important topics in applied statistics and epidemiology for a healthcare audience. Most books on these topics are for students/professionals studying this area and are much more in depth. This book could serve an audience that is interested in this material but not hands-on trying to design studies, analyze data, etc.
Audience: The author states that the book is meant to be used by a wide range of health professionals, students, people with an interest in health care or public health, or anyone wanting to refresh their knowledge on topics in statistics and epidemiology. I found the content to be written for healthcare professionals primarily. The content is too surface level for real knowledge and depth required of public health students. The examples are very clinically focused, again making me think that the most relevant audience is health professionals. The content does make readers aware of the primary issues for each topic covered but not in enough depth to really address nuances. Also, the language/tone of the writing is very specific to a U.K. audience. With that in mind, the inclusion of the CASP checklist for critical appraisal speaks to the U.K. focus. The author appears a credible authority on this subject, being an emeritus professor as well as holding different positions previously in the U.K.
Features: This book contains a total of 33 very short chapters covering the main topics of applied statistics and epidemiology. Each chapter contains examples to illustrate concepts. It is written in a very conversational yet U.K. style ("Shall we have a go at calculating a pooled SD?"). The writing of this book is very clear. It is a slim book, but the pages are packed with text, tables, and the occasional illustration. Interestingly, each chapter ends with a blank page. There are a limited number of examples provided in each chapter. For instance, in discussing Retrospective Cohort Studies, the author could have included an example using secondary data such as from a disease registry or Medicare data (but perhaps the U.K. focus prevents this). The book contains a glossary of terms, an appendix that includes exercises, and another appendix with the exercise answers. A number of references are provided as well as a list for further reading.
Assessment: This book gives a brief overview of the main concepts in statistics and epidemiology. It could be a good starter text for health professionals who want to understand very basic methods before reading scientific literature - or for public health practitioners who don't have a public health degree but want a basic understanding of stats/epi to be able to ask good questions and understand the methods. An updated edition of the book is useful because of some of the examples and screenshots/software that are mentioned. Also, the author points to more recent readings for interested readers. I don't think the book provides sufficient depth for public health students, even students in fields other than biostatistics and epidemiology. However, I think students would find it to be a good text for other public health disciplines where they want to understand the main concepts but don't need to dive deeper. Unfortunately, any similar books I am familiar with or use in my classroom are more in depth and intended for epidemiology students.

Doody's Review Service

"The author has captured the essence of the most important topics in applied statistics and epidemiology for a healthcare audience."

- Anjali Deshpande, PhD, MPH, University of Iowa College of Public Health

From the Publisher