Statistics Flashcards
Formula for standard error of the mean (SEM)?
SEM = SD / square root on (n)
SD - standard deviation
n = sample size
SEM gets smaller as sample size (n) increases
Definition of power of a study?
Power = 1 - the probability of type II error
The probability that a statistically significant difference will be detected
Probability of (correctly) rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false OR
Probability of confirming the alternative hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true
Power can be increased by increasing the sample size
Examples of observational studies
Cohort study
Case-control study
Cross-sectional study
Case series
Studies organised in level of evidence they provide.
Systematic reviews RCTs Cohort studies Case-control studies Cross-sectional studies Case series
Prospective cohort study
Sample recruited from population in the present, relevant predictors are measured, cohort is followed overtime to measure outcomes
Usual outcome measure is relative risk
Pro: more control over what is measured and how; can measure confounders
Con: expensive; wait until outcome occurs; rare outcome = need more participants
Retrospective cohort study
Cohort assembled after an outcome has occurred using stored data
Pro: cheaper, faster
Con: data quality limited
Case-control study
Start off with people with the disease and ask about exposure
Usual outcome measure is odds ratio
Pro: efficient for rare diseases and outbreaks
Con: hard to find matched controls; recall bias; confounding
Cross-sectional study
Random sample of a population in a point in time.
Descriptive: prevalence of a disease or exposure
Analytic: examine relationship between between different things e.g. obesity and arthritis
Can provide evidence of association but not about causality (hard to determine what came first)
Best study design for an intervention question?
Best primary study: RCT
Highest level of evidence: systematic review of RCTs
Best study design for question of harm or prognosis?
Prospective cohort study
Individual prospective cohort study
Retrospective cohort study
Case-control study
Best study type for questions of diagnostic test accuracy
Cross-sectional analytic study where the 2 tests are performed on the study participants
Best primary study type for prevalence of disease?
Cross-sectional descriptive study
Burden of disease
Best primary study type for incidence of disease?
Cohort study
Specified period of time; looks at cause of disease
Relative risk
The risk of something occurring relative to the chance of it occurring under different circumstances
= (incidence in exposed)/(incidence in unexposed)
i.e. use division
RR <1: treatment is beneficial
RR >1: treatment is harmful
RR = 1: treatment has no effect
Used in RCTs and cohort studies - need to know incidence
Absolute Risk Reduction
= (incidence of disease in exposed) - (incidence of disease in unexposed)
i.e. Use subtraction
Must remain aware if exposure has increased or decreased the risk
Number needed to treat
Number of people that need to be treated in order to prevent one negative outcome
NNT = 1 / (risk difference)
Odds Ratio
= (odds of exposure to the risk factor of interest in the cases) / (odds of exposure to the risk factor of interest in controls)
Used in case control studies
OR 0.6 = the exposed group is 40% less likely to develop specific outcomes compared to the control group
OR 1.5 = risk increased by 50%
P value
Probability that the observed results of the study are due to chance rather than an actual effect
IF p<0.05, the probability of getting the results by chance alone is 5% (i.e. statistically significant)
Confidence intervals
Provides us with a range within which we would expect the true effect to lie
Wide CI = poor precision
Narrow CI = good precision
IF using RR
Random error
Chance
Gives results either side of the true answer with the mean of all results being close to the true answer
Narrow confidence interval = less random error
Systematic error
Bias
Differ in one direction from the truth