Evaluating Clinical and Public Health Interventions : A Practical Guide to Study Design and Statistics

This book teaches researchers, whether expert or novice, how to evaluate health interventions. Written in plain language with supplementary tips and definitions to guide the reader, it simplifies the process of analyzing data. It will guide healthcare workers and policy makers in making the correct selection of study design.

Whether you are evaluating the effectiveness of a drug, a medical device, a behavioral intervention, a community mobilization, or even a new law, this is the book for you. Written in plain language, it simplifies the process of designing interventions, analyzing the data, and publishing the results. Because the choice of research design depends on the nature of the intervention, the book covers randomized and nonrandomized designs, prospective and retrospective studies, planned clinical trials and observational studies. In addition to reviewing standard statistical analysis, the book has easy-to-follow explanations of cutting edge techniques for evaluating interventions, including propensity score analysis, instrumental variable analysis, interrupted time series analysis and sensitivity analysis. All techniques are illustrated with up-to-date examples from medical and public health literature. This will be essential reading for a wide range of healthcare professionals involved in research as well as those more specifically interested in public health issues and epidemiology.