Contents
1 Introduction to epidemiological studies
1.1 What epidemiology studies
1.2 Disease occurrence in populations
1.3 Types of epidemiological study
1.4 What each design can estimate
1.5 Association and causation
1.6 Problems
2 The primacy of data collection
2.1 Why data collection comes first
2.2 Measuring disease: sensitivity and specificity
2.3 Measuring exposure: validity and reliability
2.4 Misclassification and its effects
2.5 Completeness of the data
2.6 Problems
3 Measures of disease frequency
3.1 Prevalence
3.2 Risk
3.3 Incidence rate and person-time
3.4 Prevalence, incidence and duration
3.5 Specific and crude rates
3.6 Problems
4 Measures of association
4.1 Comparing two risks
4.2 Inference for the risk ratio and risk difference
4.3 Inference for the odds ratio
4.4 Testing for no association
4.5 Comparing rates
4.6 What a case-control odds ratio estimates
4.7 Problems
5 Attributable risk
5.1 Attributable risk among the exposed
5.2 The population attributable fraction
5.3 Estimating the PAF from a case-control study
5.4 Several exposure levels and several factors
5.5 Preventable fractions in a population
5.6 Problems
6 Study design in practice
6.1 Cohort studies
6.2 Case-control studies
6.3 Matching
6.4 Sample size for comparing two groups
6.5 Sample size for comparing rates
6.6 Power, precision and the size of the effect
6.7 Problems
7 Threats to validity
7.1 Random error and bias
7.2 Selection bias
7.3 Information bias
7.4 Confounding
7.5 Causal diagrams
7.6 Controlling confounding
7.7 Problems
8 Standardisation of rates
8.1 Direct standardisation
8.2 Indirect standardisation and the SMR
8.3 Comparing SMRs
8.4 Choosing between the methods
8.5 Problems
9 Confounding and stratified analysis
9.1 Stratification
9.2 Effect modification
9.3 Pooling homogeneous estimates
9.4 Testing homogeneity
9.5 A strategy for stratified analysis
9.6 Problems
10 The Mantel–Haenszel procedure
10.1 The Mantel–Haenszel odds ratio
10.2 Variance and confidence interval
10.3 The Mantel–Haenszel test
10.4 Matched pairs
10.5 Risk ratios and risk differences
10.6 Rate ratios
10.7 Testing homogeneity: the Breslow–Day test
10.8 Problems
11 Follow-up studies: life tables and person-years
11.1 Time scales and the Lexis diagram
11.2 The actuarial life table
11.3 The Kaplan–Meier estimator
11.4 Comparing survival: the log-rank test
11.5 The current life table and life expectancy
11.6 Problems
12 Adjustment by regression
12.1 Logistic regression
12.2 Logistic regression for case-control data
12.3 Conditional logistic regression for matched data
12.4 Poisson regression for rates
12.5 Using models well
12.6 Problems
13 Comparison of methods of adjustment
13.1 Every summary is a weighted average
13.2 A homogeneous example
13.3 A heterogeneous example
13.4 Sparse strata
13.5 Choosing a method
13.6 Problems
14 Review problems
14.1 Problems
References
References