Measuring disease occurrence
In this chapter, we'll cover the basics such as calculating incidence rates, prevalence, and mortality. We'll also explain the concept of age confounding and teach you what to do about it.
- Measuring disease occurrence intro
- Calculating incidence and prevalence
- Mastering mortality rates
- Identifying age as a confounding variable
- Controlling for age: stratification or adjustment
- Measuring disease occurrence quiz
Assessing the validity of diagnostic tests
Never blindly trust the findings of a diagnostic test—know what the results really mean and how reliable they are. This chapter will bring you up to speed on sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values.
- Assessing the validity of diagnostic tests intro
- Calculating sensitivity and specificity
- Navigating the intricacies of sensitivity and specificity
- Interpreting the predictive value—the role of prevalence
- Determining the predictive value—the effects of specificity
- Assessing the validity of diagnostic tests quiz
Expressing disease prognosis
Does an improvement in screening improve disease prognosis? This chapter will give you the answer. Learn how to interpret life tables, 5-year survival rates, and Kaplan-Meier curves.
- Expressing disease prognosis intro
- Mastering the basics
- Using life tables
- Adjusting for withdrawals in life tables
- Applying the Kaplan-Meier method
- Understanding the effects of stage migration
- Expressing disease prognosis quiz
Interpreting randomized trials
Randomized trials are the Holy Grail of clinical studies; it's necessary to understand them and interpret them correctly. In this chapter, we'll teach you how to read them with expertise.
- Interpreting randomized trials intro
- Mastering the basics
- Evaluating data collection methods
- Assessing power and errors
- Calculating sample size
- Interpreting randomized trials quiz
Interpreting cohort and case-control studies
Cohort and case-control studies are observational studies used to assess the association between disease and exposure: learn how these studies are designed and when to use them.
- Interpreting cohort and case-control studies intro
- Mastering the basics of cohort studies
- Comparing the types of cohort studies
- Mastering the basics of case-control studies
- Assessing control selection
- Interpreting cohort and case-control studies quiz
Measuring association
The association between a risk factor and disease is often expressed as the relative risk or the odds ratio. Learn how to calculate, interpret, and compare these two common measures.
- Measuring association intro
- Calculating relative risk
- Calculating the odds ratio
- Controlling for confounding
- Measuring association quiz