Essentials of Biostatistics in Public Health

Description

Biostatistics uses statistical reasoning and methods to address major problems in public health. Public health interventions are only as good as the data that support them. Data management and data analysis are critical to biostatistics and the interpretation of data. A student enrolled in biostatistics or informatics develops an understanding of data analysis. Epidemiology is a health care discipline with an important distinction: The “patient” isn’t an individual, but rather an entire community or population. Specifically, epidemiology uses science, systems-thinking, and data to determine the underlying causes of different diseases and health outcomes in a population. Health technology refers to any method that is used to promote health prevent, diagnose and treat diseases or improve rehabilitation and long-term care. Technologies include drugs, devices, diagnostic agents, equipment, and medical and surgical procedures. Healthcare engineering is the application of engineering methods and problem solving skills to important problems in healthcare. Public health services are necessarily significant measures to decrease a population’s exposure to disease through sanitation, cleanliness and vector control which are in return an necessary part of a nation’s development infrastructure. In the developed world and East Asia, systematic public health efforts raised labour productivity and life expectancies well before modern curative technologies became extensively available, and helped set the stage for fast economic growth and poverty reduction. This book will be of immense use for the students, teachers, and researchers of this field.