Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics by Moyses Szklo, F. Javier Nieto

From the Publisher

Written for those who are familiar with the basic strategies of analytic epidemiology, Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics, Second Edition takes readers through a more rigorous discussion of key epidemiologic concepts and methods such as study design, measures of association, research assessment, and more. With real-life examples throughout, the book avoids complex statistical formulations and is an invaluable resource for intermediate students and practicing epidemiologists who wish to expnd their knowledge of epidemiology and its role in the medical and public health sciences.

Robert McCarter

This text is a sophisticated treatment of the issues that arise and methods that are employed when epidemiologists seek to measure disease risk and to investigate the complex determinants of risk. The purpose is to serve as an intermediate text, a bridge between the basics and the specialized texts that focus on specific methods or research designs. The real contribution is that the authors integrate and unify the treatment of these methods and their interpretation from the perspective of experienced epidemiologists, not merely data analysts. They present the full range of issues in this book in a way that is accessible to all, yet they avoid oversimplification. The audience for this gap-filling book is diverse, spanning the range from students enrolled in a second course in epidemiology, to practitioners who may use the book as a reference, to teachers of epidemiology. The book fills a niche in the field of epidemiology texts because it represents a unified presentation of advanced concepts in measurement of risk and association within the context of the principal study designs. The concepts of bias, confounding, and interaction are addressed in depth, as is their impact on study validity and causative reasoning. The treatment of the impact of time, including age, secular trend, and cohort effects is excellent, as is the discussion of stratification and regression-based modeling in accounting for confounding and effect modification. I only wish the authors had included a chapter on screening and prevention. Although this book is likely to be a standard addition to the library of most students and practitioners in the field of epidemiology, its clarity and richness of content makeit attractive to any health professional. This book fills a unique niche and therefore has little direct competition. The books that overlap somewhat include Kahn and Sempos's Statistical Methods in Epidemiology (Monographs in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Vol. 12), (Oxford Univ Press 1989) and Selvin's Statistical Analysis of Epidemiologic Data (Monographs in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Vol. 25) (Oxford Univ Press, 1996). However, these are more descriptions of methods and thus lack the rich discussion of the role of these methods and the issues they address in the broader context of epidemiological reasoning.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Robert McCarter, ScD (University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Medicine)
Description:This text is a sophisticated treatment of the issues that arise and methods that are employed when epidemiologists seek to measure disease risk and to investigate the complex determinants of risk.
Purpose:The purpose is to serve as an intermediate text, a bridge between the basics and the specialized texts that focus on specific methods or research designs. The real contribution is that the authors integrate and unify the treatment of these methods and their interpretation from the perspective of experienced epidemiologists, not merely data analysts. They present the full range of issues in this book in a way that is accessible to all, yet they avoid oversimplification.
Audience:The audience for this gap-filling book is diverse, spanning the range from students enrolled in a second course in epidemiology, to practitioners who may use the book as a reference, to teachers of epidemiology.
Features:The book fills a niche in the field of epidemiology texts because it represents a unified presentation of advanced concepts in measurement of risk and association within the context of the principal study designs. The concepts of bias, confounding, and interaction are addressed in depth, as is their impact on study validity and causative reasoning. The treatment of the impact of time, including age, secular trend, and cohort effects is excellent, as is the discussion of stratification and regression-based modeling in accounting for confounding and effect modification. I only wish the authors had included a chapter on screening andprevention.
Assessment:Although this book is likely to be a standard addition to the library of most students and practitioners in the field of epidemiology, its clarity and richness of content make it attractive to any health professional. This book fills a unique niche and therefore has little direct competition. The books that overlap somewhat include Kahn and Sempos's Statistical Methods in Epidemiology (Monographs in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Vol. 12) , (Oxford Univ Press 1989) and Selvin's Statistical Analysis of Epidemiologic Data (Monographs in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Vol. 25) (Oxford Univ Press, 1996) . However, these are more descriptions of methods and thus lack the rich discussion of the role of these methods and the issues they address in the broader context of epidemiological reasoning.

Booknews

This intermediate-level text explores key epidemiologic concepts and basic methods in more depth than basic texts. Moyses and Nieto (epidemilogy, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health) present nine chapters that discuss cohort and nested case-control studies, birth cohort analysis, ecological studies, cumulative incidence, measures of association, confounding, interaction, reliability and validity measure, forms of bias, and other topics. Complex concepts such as confounding, interactions, and statistical modeling are illustrated with graphics, diagrams, and examples. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Rating

4 Stars! from Doody

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents