Contents:

Preface. Chapter 1 Uses and abuses of medical statistics. 1.1 Introduction. 1.2 Why use statistics? 1.3 Statistics is about common sense and good design. 1.4 Types of data. 1.5 How a statistician can help. 1.6 Further reading. 1.7 Exercises. Chapter 2 Describing and displaying categorical data. 2.1 Summarising categorical data. 2.2 Displaying categorical data. 2.3 Points when reading the literature. 2.4 Exercises. Chapter 3 Describing and displaying quantitative data. 3.1 Summarising continuous data. 3.2 Displaying continuous data. 3.3 Within-subject variability. 3.4 Presentation. 3.5 Points when reading the literature. 3.6 Exercises. Chapter 4 Probability and decision making. 4.1 Types of probability. 4.2 Diagnostic tests. 4.3 Bayes' Theorem. 4.4 Relative (receiver)-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. 4.5 Points when reading the literature. 4.6 Exercises. Chapter 5 Distributions. 5.1 Introduction. 5.2 The Binomial distribution. 5.3 The Poisson distribution. 5.4 Probability for continuous outcomes. 5.5 The Normal distribution. 5.6 Reference ranges. 5.7 Points when reading the literature. 5.8 Technical details. 5.9 Exercises. Chapter 6 Populations, samples, standard errors and confidence intervals. 6.1 Populations. 6.2 Samples. 6.3 The standard error. 6.4 The Central Limit Theorem. 6.5 Standard errors for proportions and rates. 6.6 Standard errors of differences. 6.7 Confidence intervals for an estimate. 6.8 Confidence intervals for differences. 6.9 Points when reading the literature. 6.10 Technical details. 6.11 Exercises. Chapter 7 p-Values and statistical inference. 7.1 Introduction. 7.2 The null hypothesis. 7.3 The p-value. 7.4 Statistical inference. 7.5 Statistical power. 7.6 Confidence intervals rather than p-values. 7.7 One-sided and two-sided tests. 7.8 Points when reading the literature. 7.9 Technical details. 7.10 Exercises. Chapter 8 Tests for comparing two groups of categorical or continuous data. 8.1 Introduction. 8.2 Comparison of two groups of paired observations - continuous outcomes. 8.3 Comparison of two independent groups - continuous outcomes. 8.4 Comparison of two independent groups - categorical outcomes. 8.5 Comparison of two groups of paired observations - categorical outcomes. 8.6 Non-Normal distributions. 8.7 Degrees of freedom. 8.8 Points when reading the literature. 8.9 Technical details. 8.10 Exercises. Chapter 9 Correlation and linear regression. 9.1 Introduction. 9.2 Correlation. 9.3 Linear regression. 9.4 Comparison of assumptions between correlation and regression. 9.5 Multiple regression. 9.6 Logistic regression. 9.7 Correlation is not causation. 9.8 Points when reading the literature. 9.9 Technical details. 9.10 Exercises. Chapter 10 Survival analysis. 10.1 Time to event data. 10.2 Kaplan-Meier survival curve. 10.3 The logrank test. 10.4 The hazard ratio. 10.5 Modelling time to event data. 10.6 Points when reading the literature. 10.7 Exercises. Chapter 11 Reliability and method comparison studies. 11.1 Introduction. 11.2 Repeatability. 11.3 Agreement. 11.4 Validity. 11.5 Method comparison studies. 11.6 Points when reading the literature. 11.7 Technical details. 11.8 Exercises. Chapter 12 Observational studies. 12.1 Introduction. 12.2 Risk and rates. 12.3 Taking a random sample. 12.4 Questionnaire and form design. 12.5 Cross-sectional surveys. 12.6 Non-randomised studies. 12.7 Cohort studies. 12.8 Case-control studies. 12.9 Association and causality. 12.10 Points when reading the literature. 12.11 Technical details. 12.12 Exercises. Chapter 13 The randomised controlled trial. 13.1 Introduction. 13.2 Why randomise? 13.3 Methods of randomisation. 13.4 Design features. 13.5 Design options. 13.6 Meta-analysis. 13.7 The protocol. 13.8 Checklists for design, analysis and reporting. 13.9 Number needed to treat (NNT). 13.10 Points when reading the literature. 13.11 Exercises. Chapter 14 Sample size issues. 14.1 Introduction. 14.2 Study size. 14.3 Continuous data. 14.4 Binary data. 14.5 Prevalence. 14.6 Subject withdrawals. 14.7 Internal pilot studies. 14.8 Points when reading the literature. 14.9 Technical details. 14.10 Exercises. Chapter 15 Common pitfalls. 15.1 Introduction. 15.2 Using the t-test. 15.3 Plotting change against initial value. 15.4 Repeated measures. 15.5 Clinical and statistical significance. 15.6 Exploratory data analysis. 15.7 Points when reading the literature. 15.8 Exercises. References. Solutions to exercises.