Code 22768
Level of study Third/Final year
Credit value 20
Semester Students may study either 1 or both.
Pre-requisite modules 22506
This module will give a comprehensive introduction to medical statistics and show why it is an important application of mathematical and statistical theory. The module will use statistical methods learnt in other modules, and also introduce some new statistical concepts and methods, with application to real medical problems and healthcare research. The module is split into 5 sections. In Epidemiology, students will cover the analysis of diagnostic test studies; the design and analysis of cohort studies and case-control studies; the use and interpretation of linear and logistic regression models; and the problem of confounding factors. In Survival Analysis students will consider how to analyse censored time-to-event data; the specification and interpretation of hazard and survival functions; the estimation of Kaplan-Meier curves; and the use and interpretation of Cox regression models. In Clinical Trials students will consider the rationale and design of randomised controlled trials; the derivation and application of sample size equations; and the analysis of parallel group trials and cross-over trials. In Systematic Reviews students will consider how to synthesise multiple studies and produce evidence-based results; show the differences between fixed-effect and random-effects meta-analysis models; show how to measure, account for, and explain between-study heterogeneity; and appreciate how to assess publication bias. Finally, in Bayesian Statistics students will cover the differences between Bayesian and frequentist statistical inference; work through the Bayesian analysis of a clinical trial; derive and interpret posterior probability distributions; and utilise the computer software FirstBayes.