Key facts
Details for course being taught in current academic year
Level 3 - 15 credits - spring term
E-learning links
Resources
Course description
Course outline
Logistic regression, fitting and interpretation. Survival times; Kaplan-Meier estimate, log-rank test, Cox proportional hazard model. Designing medical research. Clinical trials; phases I-IV, randomised double-blind controlled trial, ethical issues, sample size, early stopping. Observational studies: prospective/retrospective, longitudinal/cross-sectional. Analysis of categorical data; relative risk, odds ratio; McNemar’s test, meta-analysis (Mantel-Haenszel method). Diagnostic tests; sensitivity and specificity; receiver operating characteristic. Standardised mortality rates.
Pre-requisite
Linear Statistical Models, or equivalent.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course successful students should be able to
* describe and distinguish between various types of study design;
* analyse multivariate data with a binary outcome (e.g., cure/no cure)
using the logistic regression model;
* analyse censored survival data using the proportional hazards model;
* use adaptations of previously introduced statistical methods of
particular relevance in analysing medical data;
* understand epidemiological methods;
* understand the procedures involved in designing and carrying out a
clinical trial;
* use the SAS package to carry out many of the above analyses.
Library
The main reference is: ‘Epidemiology’, M Woodward, 1999, Chapman & Hall.
Other relevant titles: (i) ‘Modelling Survival Data in Medical Research’, D Collett, 1994, Chapman & Hall
(ii) ‘Modelling Binary Data’, D Collett, 1991, Chapman & Hall;
(iii) ‘Practical Statistics for Medical Research’, D G Altman, 1991, Chapman & Hall
(iv) ‘Introduction to Randomised Controlled Clinical Trials’, J N S Matthews, 2000, Arnold.
Assessments
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 20.00% | |
| Practical Report | Spring Week 7 | equal weighting |
| Review Paper | Spring Week 10 | equal weighting |
| Unseen Examination | Summer Term (2 hours) | 80.00% |
Resit mode of assessment
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Unseen Examination | (2 hours ) | 100.00% |
Timing
Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.
Weighting
Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.
Teaching methods
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Term | LECTURE | 1 hour | 0101010111 |
| Spring Term | LECTURE | 1 hour | 2222222222 |
| Spring Term | PRACTICAL | 1 hour | 1010101000 |
How to read the week pattern
The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.