AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

To provide the student with the basic conceptual and mathematical tools that are needed to adequately describe biomedical phenomena, to study their relationships, and to assess the effects of interventions.

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lessons and exercises.

Any Student with documented Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or with any special needs, should contact the Lecturer(s) and to the dedicated SLD Representative in the Department before class begins, in order to liaise and arrange the specific teaching methods so that the learning aims and outcomes may be met.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Doing research: Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and clinical studies:
•   Observational and experimental studies
•   The randomized clinical trial and the main stages of a clinical trial
•   Organisation and collection of clinical data
•   Introduction to R
•   What is statistics? Descriptive statistical analysis and graphical representations. Applications in R
•   Probabilities, independent and conditional, distributions of probabilities
•   Sampling, confidence intervals, statistical inference
•   P-value, parametric and non-parametric statistical tests, main statistical tests and their application
•   Diagnostic tests, sensitivity, specificity, predictive value, ROC and likelihood curves
•   Epidemiology, incidence and prevalence
•   Genetic statistics, calculation of allelic frequencies and Hardy-Weinberg law
•   Relative and absolute measures of effect
•   Advanced statistical models for data analysis (linear regression, logistic regression, counting variable regression, survival analysis). Applications in R

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Any basic biostatistics text can support the study; however, some suggestions are given below:
•   Bland M. Statistica Medica, Apogeo 2009
•   Whitlock M.C., Schluter D. Statistical analysis of biological data, Zanichelli 2022
•   Dytham C., Choosing and using Statistics -A biologist’s guide, 3rd edition, Wiley-Blackwell 2011
•   Norman G, Streiner D., Biostatistica, Ambrosiana Publishing House
•   Triola M. Statistical Fundamentals for Biomedical Disciplines, Pearson 2022

In addition, all slides used during the course will be made available.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

II semester in March.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The learning test is in-person and consists of a written test. To pass the exam, you must give a mark of at least 18/30.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Details of how to prepare for the exam and the degree of the required depth for each topic will be clarified during the lessons. The written exam will assess the student’s ability to identify the main differences between observational studies and the best way to organize and collect clinical data and identify, apply and interpret the right descriptive and inferential statistics methods in appropriate contexts.