39161 - Statistics for Medical Research

Learning outcomes

FORMATIVE OBJECTIVE: The student will have to: know how to evaluate the instrumental measurements in the light of the variability of subjects (within and among subjects), the observer (within and between observers), the measuring instrument (accuracy and precision); know and apply scientific methods for collecting, managing, analyzing and interpreting data, making inferences and drawing conclusions, interpreting and evaluating the usefulness and limitations of a study and making a judgment on the reliability of the conclusions; solving a simple experimental problem by applying the most appropriate methodology.

Course contents

PROGRAM
Introduction to Medical Statistics: Purpose of Statistics, Terms and Definitions. Epidemiological studies, clinical trials, systematic reviews; meta-analysis, evidence-based medicine.
Descriptive statistics: position indices, dispersion indices, shape indices, frequency distributions, graphic representations.
Inferential statistics: the probability and its measures, the Bayes theorem, indicators in epidemiology, sensitivity and specificity, ROC curves. Estimate and confidence intervals, sample size.
Distribution of sample proportions. Distribution of sample average. Distribution of sample variances (Chi-square). Student distribution. The concept of hypothesis test: hypothesis formulation, decision criterion and I and II type errors;
Parametric Tests, Variance Analysis and Multiple Comparison Tests, Non-parametric Tests. Regression and correlation. Multivariate analysis. Survival analysis.

Readings/Bibliography

Bland M. Statistica medica Apogeo Ed. Milano, 2009

Teaching methods

Formative, summative and problem-based learning

Assessment methods

Oral

Teaching tools

Data analysis with statistical softwares.

Office hours

See the website of Marialuisa Lugaresi