Learning objectives
The main aim of the course is to deepen the course of the first year, looking in particular at the use of multivariate models in medicine, widely used and reported in the scientific literature. After the course students should be able: - to understand fundamental elements of medical research methodology, to be used in the next years and during the thesis period; - to read a complex biomedical and/or epidemiological scientific article based on multivariate statistics, understanding its structure; - to handle a clinical multi-variable database; to perform univariate and multivariate statistical models with freeware software; - to handle statistical medical instruments, like survival and ROC curves.
Prerequisites
I year module passed, basic knowledge of English
Course unit content
The course should integrate the course of the first year, giving to the students several elements of multivariate statistics and clinical epidemiology.
Specifically, after the reprise of some basic statistical concepts (type of studies in medicine, variable types, database creation, etc), the course will give instruments of inferential statistics directly applicable to clinical research, as ANOVA (one or two-way analysis of variance), ANCOVA, models of multiple regression, models of logistic regression, survival studies and ROC curves. Theory will be integrated with examples from clinical practice, so that the applicability of the proposed models will be clear.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Classroom slides (uploaded on Elly after 2/3 of the course) are the
reference point for the exam. Some further reference books: SA Glantz -
Statistica per discipline biomediche - McGraw-Hill. JR Taylor - Introduzione
all'analisi degli errori - Zanichelli
Teaching methods
During the classroom lectures the topics of the module program will be
illustrated and commented. Each theory argument with mathematical
formulae will be explained with the use of simple and practice examples,
so that the student can focus his/her attention on basic concepts more
than the formulae themselves. Furthermore, the use of the software
OPENSTAT will permit to the student to repeat the statistical tests treated
during classes for a better comprehension of their use and meaning.
Several technical terms will be used both in Italian and in English, so that
the
student can read on his own the international scientific literature.
Assessment methods and criteria
To assess the realization of the objectives of the course, the qualifying examination, to be done during the exam sessions, will be so structured: a recent scientific article in English will be given to one student/a couple of students about a medical field to be chosen by student(s). In the next 48 hours the student(s) will write a report about: (1) description of the statistical methods used in the article; (2) results and use of statistical models in the article. This exam is mandatory to complete the exam of abilità linguistiche ed informatiche 3 at the fourth year.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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