ROLE OF BIOSTATISTICIAN AND BIOSTATISTICAL PROGRAMMING IN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES

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ROLE OF BIOSTATISTICIAN AND BIOSTATISTICAL
PROGRAMMING IN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES
An Academic presentation by Dr. Nancy Agens,
Head, Technical Operations, Pepgra
Group www.pepgra.com Email pepgrahealthcare_at_gmai
l.com
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Today's Discussion
In Brief Epidemiology Biostatistics Biostatistics
in Epidemiological Studies Steps in
Epidemiological Biostatistics Biostatistical
Tools Biostatisticians Future Scopes Conclusion
OUTLINE OF TOPICS
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In Brief
Health data contains important information that
can help save lives and cro biostatistical
services provide information to support public
health initiatives. Biostatisticians and
biostatistical programming services are highly
sought after to make sense of the data available
from studies on public health.
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Epidemiology

• Epidemiology is a branch of medicine that deals
  with the study of disease in population, the
  incidence, distribution, and ways to control the
  same.
• Epidemiology consists of three aspects -
• Identification of disease patterns in a
  population,
• Identify causes or associated conditions and
• Provide data for prevention, control, and
  treatment of the
• health condition.

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Biostatistics
Biostatistical analysis is the science and art
of dealing with variation in data to get
reliable results and conclusions. Application
of statistics to any field of medicine or health
is biostatistics.
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Biostatistics in Epidemiological Studies
Epidemiological studies are heavily dependent on
biostatistics.
Epidemiological statistical services convert
data and information got from epidemiological
studies, analyseit, and convert it into forms to
help the public health. Biostatistical services
use quantitative methods to combine the two
disciplines of epidemiology and
biostatistics. Biostatisticians are using
statistics to predict how the pandemic will
behave, spread, and the mortality rate.
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Steps in Epidemiological Biostatistics
ADDRESS A PUBLIC HEALTH QUESTION Generate a
hypothesis A h ypothesis in epidemiology is an
assumption based on Scientific
rationale Observation or anecdotal
evidence Results of prior studies

• CONDUCT A STUDY
• Survey studies extend of health condition in
  defined population.
• Surveillance Monitors or detects health
  condition.
• Observational study the association between an
  exposure and a health condition.

Contd..
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DESCRIBE THE OBSERVATIONS / DATA
COLLECT DATA Numerical facts and figures,
observations that are obtained from the
investigation. Data must be reliable and
accurate for reliable and significant outcomes.
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By descriptive statistical methods, the data is
assessed descriptively and organised in graphs,
tables, and other summary methods.
Contd..
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MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON INFERENCES
ASSESS STRENGTH OF EVIDENCE FOR OR AGAINST THE
HYPOTHESIS
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Inferential statistics does a confirmatory data
analysis.
The study proves or disproves or is inconclusive
on the hypothesis.
The strength of evidence is assessed,
comparisons are made with previous studies and
predictions are made.
The study may be published in peer- review
publication or may be spread by any other
suitable medium of communication.
Epidemiology and biostatistics services together
provide valuable inputs on study design, disease
modelling, sampling, surveillance, analysis, etc.
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Biostatistical Tools
There are several biostatistical computerised
tools that are available today that make the
process automated.
Of these, SAS and STATA are the most used
packages. Other packages used are SUDAAN, SPSS,
R, ARCGIS, HLM, IVEWARE, BUGS etc. Logistic
regression is the most common classical statistica
l technique used.
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Biostatisticians
Biostatisticians are the ones running the show
for Statistical Programming Services. They
usually have a masters degree or a doctorate
in statistics, some also have a degree in public
health. They often have a background in
mathematics or computer science. They are the
ones who help make sense of the complex data
that comes out of the study.
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Future Scopes
Biostatistics is the backbone to study
epidemiology public health, and it needs to be
included adequately in medical
curriculum. Medical professionals need to
understand biostatistical tools better to be
able to interpret and use public health
statistics in their practice.
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Conclusion

• Epidemiology and biostatistics are two sides of
  the same coin and together they form the
  backbone of the public health information
  system.
• Strong biostatistical support turns scientific
  data into information that help epidemiologists
  and governments plan strong public health
  policies.

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