Biostatistics and Epidemiology: A Primer for Health and Biomedical Professionals

by Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Jordan Smoller

Overview

Since the publication of the first edition, Biostatistics and Epidemiology has attracted loyal readers from across specialty areas in the biomedical community. Not only does this textbook teach foundations of epidemiological design and statistical methods, but it also includes topics applicable to new areas of research. Areas covered in the fourth edition include a new chapter on risk prediction, risk reclassification and evaluation of biomarkers, new material on propensity analyses, and a vastly expanded chapter on genetic epidemiology, which is particularly relevant to those who wish to understand the epidemiological and statistical aspects of scientific articles in this rapidly advancing field. Biostatistics and Epidemiology was written to be accessible for readers without backgrounds in mathematics. It provides clear explanations of underlying principles, as well as practical guidelines of "how to do it" and "how to interpret it." Key features include a philosophical and logical explanation at the beginning of the book, subsections that can stand alone or serve as reference, cross-referencing, recommended reading, and appendices covering sample calculations for various statistics in the text.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493921348
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	02/05/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Ph.D. is Professor of epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is the Dorothy and William Manealoff Foundation and Molly Rosen Chair in Social Medicine, Emerita. In addition to her teaching, her research areas span both cardiovascular disease and cancer epidemiology. She has been a leader in landmark clinical trials in the prevention of heart disease and stroke and in major national and international collaborative prospective studies. She has won awards for mentoring students and junior faculty, as well as the Einstein Sprit of Achievement Award. She lives in New York.

Jordan Smoller, MD, ScD, is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. He is Director of the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit in the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)Center for Human Genetics Research. He is also an Associate Member of the Broad Institute and a Senior Scientist at the Broad's Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. The focus of Dr. Smoller's research has been the identification of genetic determinants of childhood and adult psychiatric disorders and of genetic factors common to multiple psychiatric conditions. He is the recipient of numerous research awards, an author of more than 200 scientific articles, book chapters and reviews; as well as the author of the book: The Other Side of Normal (HarperCollins/William Morrow, 2012). He lives with his family in Boston.

Table of Contents

The Scientific Method.- Probability.- Statistics.- Epidemiology.-Screening.- Clinical Trials.- Quality of Life.- Genetic Epidemiology.- Risk Prediction and Reclassification.- Research Ethics and Statistics.- Postscript.- Appendix A.- Appendix B.- Appendix C.- Appendix D.- Appendix E.- Appendix F.- References.- Suggested Readings.- Index.

Editorial Reviews

A slim primer intended to be "non-threatening" to health professionals presumed to verge on mathematical illiteracy. In section 1 the reader encounters a bit (twelve pages) of plain talk about the "scientific method", in section 2 "a little bit of probability", in section 3 a (less little) bit of statistics, while section 4 and section 5 treat the bare essentials of epidemiology and the design of clinical trials. Provides also some helpful appendices and an annotated guide to some relevant literature. The reader who persists to the end will be no expert, but can expect to feel reasonably comfortable in the presence of material which formerly seemed scary. (NW) Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

The intended audience includes physicians doing clinical or basic research; medical students and college or graduate level students; researchers in biomedical sciences and epidemiology as well as those interested in genetic epidemiology; and anyone interested in the logic and methodology of biostatistics, epidemiology, and genetic epidemiology. … This book presents the basics on biostatistics and epidemiology in biomedical science and incorporates new information on genetic epidemiology and risk prediction based on new biomarkers.” (Hemang B. Panchal, Doody's Book Reviews, June, 2015)

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Hemang B Panchal, MD, MPH (East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine)
Description: The fourth edition of this book on the foundations of epidemiological designs and statistical methods includes new chapters on risk prediction and reclassification, and evaluation of biomarkers, as well as new material on propensity analyses and genetic epidemiology.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide an understanding of the underlying principles of biostatistics and epidemiology, as well as practical guidelines of "how to do it" and "how to interpret it."
Audience: The intended audience includes physicians doing clinical or basic research; medical students and college or graduate level students; researchers in biomedical sciences and epidemiology as well as those interested in genetic epidemiology; and anyone interested in the logic and methodology of biostatistics, epidemiology, and genetic epidemiology.
Features: The book provides some introduction to the underlying framework of the field of epidemiology and statistics to help readers understand why we do what we do. A new chapter to this edition covers genetic epidemiology, providing basic knowledge of epidemiological designs and statistical methods used in genetic epidemiology. Another new chapter, on risk prediction, explains the logic and statistical techniques used for evaluation of new biomarkers of disease to see whether they actually improve the prediction of risk beyond that obtained from traditional risk factors. This edition also provides a comprehensive explanation of the methods involved in propensity analysis in observational studies, as well as a chapter dedicated to measures of quality of life and various psychological scales, an expansion of the chapter on probability that introduces several nonparametric methods. The book includes helpful cross-references to other relevant sections of the book when additional explanation is needed.
Assessment: This book presents the basics on biostatistics and epidemiology in biomedical science and incorporates new information on genetic epidemiology and risk prediction based on new biomarkers. The concepts explored in this book are applicable to various areas, including medicine, public health, psychology, and education.

Doody's Review Service