A new edition of the classic guide to the use of statistics in medicine, featuring examples from recent articles in the New England Journal of Medicine

Medical Uses of Statistics has served as one of the most influential works on the subject for physicians, physicians-in-training, and a myriad of healthcare experts who need a clear idea of the proper application of statistical techniques in clinical studies as well as the implications of their interpretation for clinical practice. This Third Edition maintains the focus on the critical ideas, rather than the mechanics, to give practitioners and students the resources they need to understand the statistical methods they encounter in modern medical literature.

Bringing together contributions from more than two dozen distinguished statisticians and medical doctors, this volume stresses the underlying concepts in areas such as randomized trials, survival analysis, genetics, linear regression, meta-analysis, and risk analysis. The Third Edition includes:

• Numerous examples based on studies taken directly from the pages of the New England Journal of Medicine

• Two added chapters on statistics in genetics

• Two new chapters on the application of statistical methods to studies in epidemiology

• New chapters on analyses of randomized trials, linear regression, categorical data analysis, meta-analysis, subgroup analyses, and risk analysis

• Updated chapters on statistical thinking, crossover designs, p-values, survival analysis, and reporting research results

• A focus on helping readers to critically interpret published results of clinical research

Medical Uses of Statistics, Third Edition is a valuable resource for researchers and physicians working in any health-related field. It is also an excellent supplemental book for courses on medicine, biostatistics, and clinical research at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels.

Contributors xi

Preface xv

Preface to the Second Edition xvii

Preface to the First Edition xviii

Acknowledgments xxi

Origins of Chapters xxiii

Introduction xxv

Section I Broad Concepts and Analytic Techniques

Chapter 1 Statistical Concepts Fundamental to Investigations Lincoln E. Moses 1

Chapter 2 Some Uses of Statistical Thinking John C. Bailar 21

Chapter 3 Use of Statistical Analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine Shilpi Agarwal Graham A. Colditz John D. Emerson 41

Section II Design

Chapter 4 Randomized Trials and Other Parallel Comparisons of Treatment Nancy E. Mayo 51

Chapter 5 Crossover and Self-Controlled Designs in Clinical Research John C. Bailar Thomas A. Louis Philip W. Lavori Marcia Polansky 91

Chapter 6 The Series of Consecutive Cases as a Device for Assessing Outcomes of Interventions Lincoln E. Moses 109

Chapter 7 Biostatistics in Epidemiology: Design and Basic Analysis Mark S. Goldberg 123

Section III Analysis

Chapter 8 p-Values James H. Ware Frederick Mosteller Fernando Delgado Christl Donnelly Joseph A. Ingelfinger 175

Chapter 9 Understanding Analyses of Randomized Trials Nancy E. Mayo 195

Chapter 10 Linear Regression in Medical Research Paul J. Rathouz Amita Rastogi 239

Chapter 11 Statistical Analysis of Survival Data Stephen W. Lagakos 277

Chapter 12 Analysis of Categorical Data in Medical Studies Paul S. Albert 291

Chapter 13 Analyzing Data from Ordered Categories Lincoln E. Moses John D. Emerson Hossein Hosseini 311

Section IV Communicating Results

Chapter 14 Guidelines for Statistical Reporting in Articles for Medical Journals: Amplifications and Explanations John C. Bailar Frederick Mosteller325

Chapter 15 Reporting of Subgroup Analyses in Clinical Trials Rui Wang Stephen W. Lagakos James H. Ware David J. Hunter Jeffrey M. Drazen 343

Chapter 16 Writing about Numbers Frederick Mosteller Margaret Perkins Stephen Morrissey 353

Section V Specialized Methods

Chapter 17 Combining Results from Independent Studies: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis in Clinical Research Michael A. Stoto 369

Chapter 18 Biostatistics in Epidemiology: Advanced Methods of Regression Analysis Mark S. Goldberg 399

Chapter 19 Genetic Inference Dan L. Nicolae Thorsten Kurz Carole Ober 439

Chapter 20 Identifying Disease Genes in Association Studies Dan L. Nicolae Thorsten Kurz Carole Ober 455

Chapter 21 Risk Assessment A. John Bailer John C. Bailar 467

Index 483