Statistics as a Resource in Medical Research

This book aims to provide a comprehensive and effective overview of the practical applications of statistics in the realm of healthcare. The primary goal of this book is to furnish readers, particularly medical researchers, and practitioners, with a deep understanding of statistical methods that find utility in healthcare scenarios. The book presents practical activities that challenge learners to tackle related situations, along with solutions that utilize the powerful and free software, RStudio. The book thoughtfully provides explanations on employing this software and includes the requisite code for resolving each practical scenario. Intended for those who possess a foundational understanding of statistics but seek a deeper grasp of its application in healthcare, the book fills a crucial knowledge gap. The book commences with a historical overview of statistical methods in public health research and introduces readers to R, an open-source programming language and statistical computing environment. Subsequent chapters explore the design and interpretation of clinical trials, touching on their advantages, limitations, and even delving into Bayesian methods. The discussion extends to the observation and description of specific events in a population using numeric and graphic methods in the context of descriptive statistics.