Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWhen you read that the authors of a book were proud to have "escaped the 1970s without owning a leisure suit," you just know it's going to be good. Clearly, such authors have a different point of view-and a great sense of humor. Essential Concepts in Clinical Research is an accurate title; the book is a pragmatic guide to understanding and evaluating clinical research, and it is excellent. It is easy to read, contains a surprising amount of information for its size, and is well referenced. In addition to explaining the key points of epidemiological and clinical research designs, the book has lots of examples of good practices and bad mistakes, as well as several helpful flowcharts and illustrations. The authors write with humor (they somehow weave ancient Roman toilets and astrology into the mix) and with a great deal of authority. If you need to understand the clinical literature, this is probably the single best guide you can get. Tom Lang, Tom Lang Communications and Training International In this text physicians and allied health professionals will find a concise and insightful guide to the design and implementation of clinical research. Clearly written in short easy-to-digest chapters this text differs from other similar publications by providing practical clinical examples from the medical literature that highlight the concepts being discussed. Physicians, pharmacists and other allied health professions will find the insights offered by these authors to be invaluable in interpreting medical literature and established researchers will better understand how to optimize their conduct and interpretation of clinical research. Robert Reid, Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Canada, 2019
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. An overview of clinical research: the lay of the land Observational studies 2. Descriptive studies: what they can and cannot do 3. Bias and causal associations in observational research 4. Cohort studies: marching towards outcomes 5. Case-control studies: research in reverse 6. Finding controls for case-control studies: compared to what? 7. Limitations of observational epidemiology Screening tests 8. Uses and abuses of screening tests 9. Refining clinical diagnosis with likelihood ratios Randomized controlled trials 10. Boosting participant recruitment in trials 11. Sample size calculations in randomized trials: mandatory and mystical 12. Generation of allocation sequences in randomized trials: chance not choice 13. Generation of allocation sequences in non-double-blinded randomized trials: guarding against guessing 14. Allocation concealment in randomized trials: defending against deciphering 15. Exclusions and losses in randomized trials: sample size slippages 16. Blinding in randomized trials: hiding who got what 17. Implementing treatment blinding in randomized trials 18. Surrogate endpoints and composite outcomes: shortcuts to unknown destinations 19. Multiplicity in randomized trials I: endpoints and treatments 20. Multiplicity in randomized trials II: subgroup and interim analyses 21. Conducting randomized trials as part of a prospective meta-analysis Publishing 22. Reporting studies in medical journals: CONSORT and other guidelines
