A Clinician's Guide to Statistics in Mental Health

by S. Nassir Ghaemi

Overview

The second edition of a clear and accessible guide to the application of statistics in psychiatric practice. The book expertly describes statistical concepts in clear and simple terms, with minimal mathematical content, making it the ideal resource for busy mental health professionals. Fully revised throughout, it features five new chapters covering key advances in the field and important topics in greater detail. Amongst the key concepts discussed in this edition are the logic of randomization, clinical trials, the overuse of p-values, understanding effect sizes, meta-analysis and why clinical experience is limited by observational confounding bias. Featuring a wealth of clinical examples, on topics of high importance or controversy in psychiatry, plus explanations and reasoning, to give clinicians a better understanding of how to apply research to their practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108814966
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/09/2023
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	174
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

S. Nassir Ghaemi is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center and is also a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He is an associate editor of Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, a Life Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and an Overseas Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK).

Table of Contents

1. Why data never speak for themselves; 2. Why you cannot believe your eyes; 3. Levels of evidence; 4. Bias; 5. Randomization; 6. Clinical trials: improving on clinical experience; 7. The p-value: uses and misuses; 8. Forget p-values: the importance of effect sizes; 9. Understanding placebo; 10. Understanding confidence intervals; 11. Observational studies; 12. The alchemy of meta-analysis; 13. Bayesian statistics: why your opinion counts; 14. Causation; 15. A philosophy of statistics; 16. Evidence-based medicine: defense and criticism; 17. Social and economic factors: peer review, funding, and the conventional wisdom; 18. The new canon of psychopharmacology (STAR*D, STEP-BD, CATIE): how clinical trials are misinterpreted; 19. False positive maintenance clinical trials in psychiatry; 20. How to analyze a study; Appendix. Understanding regression; Index.

Editorial Reviews

‘This book provides a value of knowledge far beyond this concise paperback. The author highlights how most clinical researchers, as well as clinicians in psychiatry, have limited formal education or understanding of statistics, leading to a constricted ability to interpret and analyze clinical publications that influence our daily practice, much less understand how to weigh the overall validity of a study.' Carlie Horvitz, Doody's Reviews

From the Publisher