Product Description

Blackwell Publishing is delighted to announce that this book has been Highly Commended in the 2004 BMA Medical Book Competition. Here is the judges’ summary of this book:

“This is a technical book on a technical subject but presented in a delightful way. There are many books on statistics for doctors but there are few that are excellent and this is certainly one of them. Statistics is not an easy subject to teach or write about. The authors have succeeded in producing a book that is as good as it can get. For the keen student who does not want a book for mathematicians, this is an excellent first book on medical statistics.”

Essential Medical Statistics is a classic amongst medical statisticians. An introductory textbook, it presents statistics with a clarity and logic that demystifies the subject, while providing a comprehensive coverage of advanced as well as basic methods.

The second edition of Essential Medical Statistics has been comprehensively revised and updated to include modern statistical methods and modern approaches to statistical analysis, while retaining the approachable and non–mathematical style of the first edition. The book now includes full coverage of the most commonly used regression models, multiple linear regression, logistic regression, Poisson regression and Cox regression, as well as a chapter on general issues in regression modelling. In addition, new chapters introduce more advanced topics such as meta–analysis, likelihood, bootstrapping and robust standard errors, and analysis of clustered data.

Aimed at students of medical statistics, medical researchers, public health practitioners and practising clinicians using statistics in their daily work, the book is designed as both a teaching and a reference text. The format of the book is clear with highlighted formulae and worked examples, so that all concepts are presented in a simple, practical and easy–to–understand way. The second edition enhances the emphasis on choice of appropriate methods with new chapters on strategies for analysis and measures of association and impact.

Essential Medical Statistics is supported by a web site at www.blackwellpublishing.com/essentialmedstats. This useful online resource provides statistical datasets to download, as well as sample chapters and future updates.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42459 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Review
"the breadth of coverage of the book is excellent ... a rather different approach to teaching medical statistics."
Statistics in Medicine

"The most readable book that I have yet discovered in the topic"
Community Health Studies

"This book is statistically correct. That is enough to distinguish it from most of its competitors."
British Medical Journal

Published Reviews of the 2th Edition

"One word which definitely describes this book is "comprehensive". Anything you ever wanted to know about medical statistics is covered in immense detail."

4th Year Medical Student
Liverpool Medical School
Sphincter, December 2003

"This is a comprehensive book that includes an impressive range of topics often omitted from books aimed at non–statisticians.

...a resource that makes it easy for a beginner to comprehend a wide range of statistical concepts and tools. Essential Medical Statistics fills an important niche by providing practical information on a comprehensive scope of modern statistical methods and, at the same time, communicating on the same wavelengths as physicians and other nonstatisticians."

Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences, Section of the American Statistical Association, Spring 2004

"The book is laid out in a logical fashion and includes all of the tables you need to find p–values once you have performed a test. It covers simple statistical methods, such as how to calculate the mean and standard deviation, progressing to linear and multiple regression, Poisson regression and measures of impact and association.

...I would recommend using it to anyone who is still struggling with statistics."

North Wing, Sheffield Medics Magazine, Winter 2004

"The book is generally well laid out, the indexing is well structured and a comprehensive bibliography is provided. The topics are easy to locate and include practical examples. These attributes make it a useful text for both consulting and teaching purposes."
Statistics in Medicine, Vol 24, Number 5, March 2005

Community Health Studies
The most readable book that I have yet discovered in the topic.

British Medical Journal
This book is statistically correct. That is enough to distinguish it from most of its competitors.

Customer Reviews

In 2005 the best book on medical statistics
Nothing really compares to this book. Although the Altman text on Medical Statistics (althoug the available edition is rather old) is a serious contender, there are currently no alternatives, which manages to discuss clinical statistics in such clear language. The authors have recently updated the book with very good chapters on meta-analysis and GLM. There are several alternative american textbooks, but compared to this book, you'll quickly realize that most american writers just cannot write. Highly recommended.

Excellent Book
I have been doing an MSc in Medical statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This book covers much of the material taught on their MSc but in a much clearer, more logical and less haphazard way. Well done Betty Kirkwood, you have achieved what other books and LSHTM lecturers could not. I only wish I had seen this book at the start of the course.

A useful statistics reference book and guide
This book starts with an introduction describing how it will approach the subject, and to be quite honest it mightve well not have bothered. This section just seemed over complex and unnecessary.
The subject matter itself though is excellent, written in an easy uncomplicated language i found most concepts easy to follow making it an excellent tutor book. The book stresses the important points while directing the reader away from the concepts that are less likely to be used. The examples quoted are simple to follow and relevant to the medical subject area.
The book could perhaps have been improved with a few additional exercise (and supplied soluations) to help with understanding, but realistically there isnt much more you could expect from a book of this type.
Highly recommended!