Statistics, Epidemiology and History of the Healthcare Services

Reliability of a measure
∙ Reliability and its components
∙ Systematic error and casual error
Variability
Between-subjects and within-subjects variability
Descriptive statistics
∙ Graphs
∙ Location, scale, and shape of a frequency distribution
∙ Measures of location and scale
∙ Accuracy and precision of a measure
∙ Quantiles and reference limits
∙ Correlation coefficient and Kappa statistic
Gaussian model
∙ Probability of events on the population within the Gaussian model
∙ How to model the error with a Gaussian model
Screening programs
∙ Events
∙ Probability: concept
∙ Probability of an event: algebra
∙ Basics of probability
∙ Screening programs: why
∙ True and false positives, true and false negatives
∙ Sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic tool
∙ Positive (negative) predictive values
∙ Likelihood ratio: positive and negative
∙ Pre-test and post-test probabilities
∙ Bayes theorem
Inference
∙ Sampling variability
∙ Population and sample
∙ Estimate of a population parameter with sampling quantities
Sampling distribution
∙ The central limit theorem and the distribution of a sampling quantity
∙ Standard error
Confidence interval
∙ Definition and meaning
∙ Formulas
Hypothesis testing
∙ First type and second type errors and power of a test
∙ Sample size calculation
∙ Clinical statistics and clinical relevance
∙ Hypothesis testing on a population mean
Deterministic and probabilistic models
∙ Deterministic and probabilistic models: differences
∙ Simple linear regression model: interpretation and parameters
∙ Hypothesis testing on the parameters of a simple linear regression model

- The origins and meaning of Medicine and the History of Medicine
- Study and research sources: Medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. Medieval Medicine; Knowing the body:
Renaissance and Animated Anatomy. Iatrophysics and Iatrochemistry. Microscopic anatomy.
- Enlightenment and public health: occupational diseases, hygiene and preventive medicine, vaccine prophylaxis,
orthopedics, humanitarian treatment of the mentally ill persons.
- The birth of Clinics and its tools: semeiotics, diagnostics and therapy; Surgery problems and their solution:
analgesia, anesthesia, asepsis and antisepsis. Cell theory and microbiology.
- The 20th century: new concepts, tools and therapies; Evolution and transformation of hospitals.
- Elements of the history of public health in Lombardy

. Meaning and use of the epidemiological method: from data analysis to programming and evaluation within the health system.

2. Use of current health data in epidemiology.
- Characteristics of current data sources.
- Main sources of health data.
- The indicators: meaning and use.
- Methodological aspects related to the use of administrative data for planning and research.
- Guided analysis of current health data.

3. Frequency measures: ratios, proportions, rates;
- Concept of prevalence, incidence, density of incidence, cumulative incidence standardization of rates

4. Study plans and their application for need assessment, analysis of care problems, assessment of the quality of care.
- Ecological (or correlation) studies and their application: the search for differences.
- Prevalence studies and their application.
- Incidence studies and their application. Case control studies and their application. Experimental studies.

5. Association and impact measures: relative risk, odds ratio, risk attributable as absolute measure and as relative measure

6. Random and systematic error in Epidemiology. The confusion

7. Studies to evaluate the quality of health care
- The assessment of needs.
- Assessment of organizational aspects in the delivery of health care services.
- Evaluation of the results.