Ian Scott - Statistics for Healthcare Professionals: An Introduction

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Ian Scott and Debbie Mazhindu 2014
This edition first published 2014
First edition published 2005
Reprinted 2009 (twice)

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013948136

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-4462-0893-9
ISBN 978-1-4462-0892-2 (pbk)

Editor: Alison Poyner
Associate editor: Emma Milman
Production editor: Katie Forsythe
Copyeditor: Neil Dowden
Proofreader: Mary Dalton
Indexer: David Rudeforth
Marketing manager: Tamara Navaratnam
Cover design: Wendy Scott
Typeset by: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed in Great Britain by Henry Ling Limited at The Dorset Press, Dorchester DT1 1HD

Contents

About the Authors

Ian Scott is Associated Dean for Student Experience in the Faculty of Health and Life Science at Oxford Brookes University. He has worked in higher education for over 20 years and in 2011 was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship. Ians main research area is learning in non-classroom environments. He has published in areas such as experiential learning in professional education, the recognition of prior learning and the role of fieldwork in environmental education. Ians love of statistics developed through his first degree which is in Applied Biology. Ian lives with his family in Great Malvern, UK and in his spare time enjoys sailing and cycling.

Debbie Mazhindu is Reader in Clinical Practice Innovation in the Faculty of Society and Health, Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) and Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust. She has over 20 years teaching experience and working in senior management and strategic levels within six different universities in the UK and abroad. Debbie qualified as a General Nurse (Adult) in 1979 and has over 16 years clinical experience in: Intensive Therapy and Coronary Care, Accident & Emergency, Medical and Surgical and Care of Older People.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge all those students we have worked with that have helped us to develop our approach to teaching the use of statistics to Health professionals. We would also like to thank the publishers editorial team who, as always, have done so much.

The author and publisher would like to thank Kathie Moore for her contribution to the initial work on the first edition of this text.

Additional Online Material

Additional online material focuses on use of well know computer programmes that are currently used to analyse statistics. The material guides users in how to undertake, the various statistical tests described in the textbook using statistical software. It will give access to the data sets of the hypothetical studies outlined in you will become more practiced and adept at analysing data with statistics.

Visit www.sagepub.co.uk/scott2e for access to the following materials which accompany the book:

Guide to using Microsoft Excel

Guide to using SPSS

Datasets

Statistics for health care research

Areas of learning covered in this chapter

How can you use this book and use statistics to enhance practice?

What is evidence-based practice (EBP)?

How are statistics used to enhance evidence-based health care?

How can statistics help you to evaluate professional knowledge and professional values as the evidence base for practice?

Scope of the book

This book aims to expand health care students and professionals knowledge and understanding of statistics within health care practice. We hope that through reading and using this book you will be encouraged to evaluate statistical analysis as a technique and its relationship to evidence-based practice, and develop a practical understanding of basic statistics. There are many different approaches to investigating questions in health care practice. We deal with quantitative approaches to investigating problems in health care, which require an understanding of some of the rules and principles of statistics. Understanding research in health care requires appreciating both qualitative and quantitative approaches to analysing data. Students of health care professions, both medical and non-medical, can expect to encounter a range of research approaches, which use particular statistical techniques to derive answers to particular patient problems. To this end, health care practice involves understanding of a range of research techniques within health-related subjects, including the use of statistics.

Glossary When you see a term in bold you may want to look it up in the glossary of terms at the end of the book. This will explain terms used and help you to remember key words.

For many students and practitioners of health care, statistics is a subject that can often appear incomprehensible, daunting and, worse still, far removed from the real issues and problems encountered when caring for people. Within the book we try to demystify some of the more commonly used statistical tests and help readers understand the language of research that uses statistics, which both novice and advanced researchers find very off-putting to read. Undertaking the exercises within and at the end of each chapter will encourage you to think critically and reflectively about the research that you encounter, both in terms of the statistical process and the dynamic health care context in which studies are executed. The book can be used as a basis for taught courses on statistics at both pre-registration and post-registration level and as a reference guide for those using statistics in health care settings. The book is an introduction and aims to take you from novice to advanced beginner. Statistics is a vast subject which many people find difficult. We hope to make the learning process easier, but we cant promise an effort-free process.