Epidemiology and Biostatics

observative study

cohort study: compare group with exposure or risk factor to group without
can be prospective or retrospective
relative risk (RR)

adoption study: compare siblings raised by biological vs adoptive parents

twin concordance study: compare the frequency with which monozygotic twin vs dizygotic twin develop same disease

cross-sectional study (横断研究): frequency of disease and risk-related factors are assesed in present

case-control study (症例対象研究): compare people with disease and without disease
odds=p/(1-p), odds ratio (OR)={p/(1-p)}/{q/(1-q)}

Clinical study

phase1

small number of healthy volunteers or patients with disease of interest

safety, toxicity, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics

phase3

phase2

phase4

moderate number

treatment efficacy, optimal dosing and adverse effect

large

compare to current standard of care (or placebo)

postmarketing

long-term

evaluation of diagnostic test

TP, FP, FN, TN

sensitivity and specificity are fixed property, PPV and NPV vary depending on disease prevalence

negative predictive value (NPV)

positive predictive value (PPV)

sensitivity

specificity

TP/(TP+FN)

probability that when the disease is present, the test is positive

for ruling out disease and low false-negative rate

prevalence=(TP+FN)/(TP+TN+FN+FP)

screening in disease with low prevalence

TN/(TN+FP)

probability that when disease is absent, the test is negative

for ruling in disease and low false-positive rate

confirmation after a positive screening test

probability that a person who has positive test result actually has the disease

TP/(TP+FP)

probability that a person with negative test result actually does not have disease

TN/(TN+FN)

likelihood ratio

compare likelihood with disorder to that without disorder

LR⁺>10 and LR⁻<0.1 indicate a very useful diagnostic test

LR⁻=(1-sensitivity)/specificity

LR⁺=sensitivity/(1-specificity)

Quantifying test

number neede to harm

number needed to treat

a:disease+,risk+; b:disease-, risk+; c:disease+, risk-; d:disease-, risk-

relative risk reduction

atributable test

odds ratio

relative risk

avsolute risk reduction

odds of ratio with disease vs without disease

OR=(a/c)/(b/d)

in case-control study

in cohort study

risk of developing disease in exposed group vs in unexposed group

RR={a/(a+b)}/{c/(c+d)}

RR=1→no association

RR>1→exposure associated with ↑disease occurrence

RR<1→exposure associated with ↓disease occurence

difference between exposed and unexposed group

AR=a/(a+b)-c/(c+d)

intervention as compared to control

RRR=1-RR

ARR=c/(c+d)-a/(a+b)

the difference in risk attributable to the intervention as compared to a control

lower number=better

NTT=1/ARR

number of patient who need to be treated for 1 patient to benefit

number of patient who need to be exposed to a risk factor for 1 patient to be harmed

higher number=safer

NNH=1/AR

incidence vs prevalence

incidence

prevalence

during a specified time period

newcase/people at risk

at a point of time

↑prevalence→↑PPV and ↓NPV

existing cases/total people

prevalence = incidence for short duration disease

prevalence > incidence for chronic disease

precision vs accuracy

precision(reliability)

accuracy

absence of random variation

consistency and reproducibility

trueness of test measurement

absence of systematic error or bias

↑→↓standard deviation,↑statistical power

bias and study error

recruiting

interpreting bias

performing

selective bias

berkson bias: from hospital

non-response bias: participating subject differ from nonrespondent

nonrandam sampling or inappropriate treatment allocation of subject

strategy: randomization, ensure the choice of the right comparison/ reference group

recall bias

awareness of disorder alters recall by subjects

strategy: decrease time from exposure

measurement bias

distorted manner

Hawthorne effect: participant(血圧計) change behavior upon awareness of being observed

strategy: objective, standardized, previously tested method, use placebo

procedure bias

not same treatment

strategy: blinding and use placebo

observer-expectancy bias

strategy: blinding and use placebo

researcher's belief change outcome

confounding bias

two or more complex causal pathway

strategy: multiple or repeated study, cross order study

not on causal pathway, it distort effect

lead-time bias

early detection is confused with ↑ survival

strategy: measure"back-end" survival

length-time bias

latency period affect result

strategy: randomized controlled trial

statistical distribution

normal distribution: Gaussian, bell-shaped, mean=mode=median

nonnormal distribution

measure of central tendency

measure of dispersion

median=middle value of a list of data sorted from least to greatest

mode=most common value

mean=(sum)/(total number)

standard deviation(標準偏差): how much variability exists, around mean

standard error: an estimate of how much variability exists in a set of sample means around the true population mean

varianc=(SD)², SE=SD/√n

positive skew: mean>median>mode

negative skew: mean<median<mode

bimodal(二峰性): eg. Hodgikin lymphoma, suicide

statistical hypothesis

outcome

Alternative(H₁): hypothesis of some difference or relationship

Null(H₀): hypothesis of no difference and relationship

correct result

incorrect result

stating that there is an effect or difference when one exist, or stating that there is no deffect or difference when none exists

type 1 error

type 2 error

stating that there is an effect or difference when none exist

α is probability

preset α level is 0.05

stating that there is no effect or difference when one exist

β is probability

↓β by: ↑sample size, expected effect size, precision of measurement

confidence interval

95% is often used (95%→Z=1.96, 99%→Z=2.58

if mean of variable include 0, or odds ratio or relative risk include 1, H₀ is not rejected

CI=x±SE

if CI overlap→no significant difference

range of value within which true mean of the population is expected to fall

Meta-analysis

improve strength of evidence and generalizability of study findings

pools summary date from multiple studies for more precise estimate ofnthe size of effect

Pearson correlation coefficient

common test

ANOVA: 3 or more group

Chi-square(χ²): check difference between 2 or more percentage or proportions og categorical outcome

t-test: check difference between means of 2 groups

the closer r is to -1, the stronger the linear negative correlation

coefficient of determination = r²

the closer r is to 1, the stronger the linear positive correlation

-1≦r≦1