Al-Hikma University College

Department of Medical Laboratory

Techniques

Biostatistics
Introduction

Dr. Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Al-Naimi

Assistant Professor

2019 - 2020
 Biostatistics
(a portmanteau word made from biology and statistics)
The application of statistics to a wide range of topics in
biology.

When the data analyzed are derived from the biological

science and medicine, we use the term biostatistics to
distinguish this particular application of statistical tools
and concepts.
 Biostatistics

It is the science which deals with development and

application of the most appropriate methods for the:

Collection of data.
Presentation of the collected data.
Analysis and interpretation of the results.
Making decisions on the basis of such analysis
Other Definitions for “Statistics”

 Frequently used in referral to recorded data

 Denotes characteristics calculated for a set of data:
sample mean
Role of Statisticians

 To guide the design of an experiment or survey

prior to data collection

 To analyze data using proper statistical

procedures and techniques

 To present and interpret the results to researchers

and other decision makers
 Sources of
data

Records Surveys Experiments

Comprehensive Sample
Records:

Examples:
- Hospital medical records contain immense amounts of
information on patients.
- Hospital accounting records contain a wealth of data on the
facility’s business activities.
- The data needed to answer a question may already exist in the
form of published reports, commercially available data banks, or
the research literature, i.e. someone else has already asked the
same question.
Surveys:

The source may be a survey, if the data needed is

about answering certain questions.
Example:
If the administrator of a clinic wishes to obtain
information regarding the mode of transportation used
by patients to visit the clinic, then a survey may be
conducted among patients to obtain this information.
Experiments:

Frequently the data needed to answer a question are

available only as the result of an experiment.
Example:
If a nurse wishes to know which of several strategies is
best for maximizing patient compliance, she might
conduct an experiment in which the different strategies
of motivating compliance are tried with different
patients.
 Types of data

Constant Variables
 Types of Variables

Quantitative variables Qualitative variables

Quantitative Qualitative
continuous nominal

Quantitative Qualitative
descrete ordinal
Quantitative Variables:

It can be measured in the usual sense.

For example:
- the heights of adult males.
- the weights of preschool children, the ages of patients seen in
a dental clinic.

Qualitative Variables
Many characteristics are not capable of being measured. Some
of them can be ordered or ranked.

For example:
- classification of people into socio-economic groups,
- social classes based on income, education, etc.
A discrete variable:
Is characterized by gaps or interruptions in the values that it can
assume.

For example:
- The number of daily admissions to a general hospital.
- The number of decayed, missing or filled teeth per child in an
elementary school.

A continuous variable:
can assume any value within a specified relevant interval of
values assumed by the variable.

For example:
Height, weight, skull circumference.
No matter how close together the observed heights of two people, we
can find another person whose height falls somewhere in between.
Nominal data:
It assigns names to each data point without placing it in some
sort of order.

For example:
The results of a test could be each classified nominally as a
"pass" or "fail“.

Ordinal data:
It groups data according to some sort of ranking system: it
orders the data.

For example:
Test results could be grouped in descending order by grade: A,
B, C, D, E and F.
A population:
It is the largest collection of values of a random variable for which
we have an interest at a particular time.

For example:
The weights of all the children enrolled in a certain elementary
school.
Populations may be finite or infinite.

A sample:
It is a part of a population.

For example:
The weights of only a fraction of these children.
 Methods of Presentation of Data

 Numerical presentation
 Graphical presentation
 Mathematical presentation
1- Numerical presentation
Tabular presentation (Simple – Complex)
Simple frequency distribution Table (S.F.D.T.)
Title
Name of variable
Frequency %
(Units of variable)
-
- Categories
-

Total
Table (I): Distribution of 50 patients at the surgical
department of (XYZ) hospital in April 2018 according
to their ABO blood groups

Blood group Frequency %

A 12 24
B 18 36
AB 5 10
O 15 30
Total 50 100
Table (II): Distribution of 50 patients at the surgical
department of (XYZ) hospital in April 2018 according
to their age

Age
Frequency %
(years)
20 - <30 19 38
30 - <40 11 22
40 - <50 3 6
50+ 17 34
Total 50 100
 Complex frequency distribution Table
Table (III): Distribution of 20 lung cancer patients at the chest
department of (XYZ) hospital and 40 controls in May 2018 according to
smoking

Lung cancer
Total
Smoking Cases Control
No. % No. % No. %
Smoker 15 75% 8 20% 23 38.33
Non
5 25% 32 80% 37 61.67
smoker
Total 20 100 40 100 60 100
 Complex frequency distribution Table
Table (IV): Distribution of 60 patients at the chest department of
(XYZ) hospital in May 2018 according to smoking & lung cancer

Lung cancer
Total
Smoking positive negative
No. % No. % No. %
Smoker 15 65.2 8 34.8 23 100
Non
smoker 5 13.5 32 86.5 37 100

Total 20 33.3 40 66.7 60 100

 2- Graphical presentation
 Graphs drawn using Cartesian coordinates

• Line graph
• Frequency polygon
• Frequency curve
• Histogram
• Bar graph
• Scatter plot

 Pie chart

 Statistical maps
 Line Graph

MMR/1000 Year MMR

60 1960 50
50
40 1970 45
30 1980 26
20
10 1990 15
0
Year
2000 12
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Figure (1): Maternal mortality rate of (X country),

1960 - 2000
Frequency polygon

Age Sex Mid-point of interval

(years) Males Females
20 - 3 (12%) 2 (10%) (20+30) / 2 = 25
30 - 9 (36%) 6 (30%) (30+40) / 2 = 35
40- 7 (8%) 5 (25%) (40+50) / 2 = 45
50 - 4 (16%) 3 (15%) (50+60) / 2 = 55
60 - 70 2 (8%) 4 (20%) (60+70) / 2 = 65
Total 25(100%) 20(100%)
 Sex
Age M-P
Frequency polygon M F
20- (12%) (10%) 25
Males Females 30- (36%) (30%) 35
%
40- (8%) (25%) 45
40
50- (16%) (15%) 55
35
30 60-70 (8%) (20%) 65

25
20
15
10
5
0
Age
25 35 45 55 65

Figure (2): Distribution of 45 patients at (place) , in

(time) by age and sex
 Frequency curve

9
8 Female

7 Male

6
Frequency

5
4
3
2
1
0
20- 30- 40- 50- 60-69
Age in years
 Histogram
Distribution of a group of cholera patients by age

Age (years) Frequency %

% 35 25- 3 14.3
30- 5 23.8
30 40- 7 33.3
45- 4 19.0
25 60-65 2 9.5
Total 21 100
20
15
10
5
0
25

30

40

45

60

65
0

Age (years)

Figure (2): Distribution of 100 cholera patients at (place) , in (time) by age

 Bar chart
%
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Single Married Divorced Widowed
Marital status
 Bar chart
%
50
Male
40 Female

30
20
10
0
Single Married Divorced Widowed
Marital status
 Pie chart

Deletion
Inversion
3%
18%

Translocation
79%
Doughnut chart

Hospital B

DM
Hospital A IHD
Renal
3-Mathematical presentation
Summery statistics
Measures of location
1- Measures of central tendency
2- Measures of non central locations
(Quartiles, Percentiles )
Measures of dispersion
Summery statistics
1- Measures of central tendency (averages)

Midrange
Smallest observation + Largest observation
2

Mode
the value which occurs with the greatest
frequency i.e. the most common value
Summery statistics
1- Measures of central tendency (cont.)

 Median
the observation which lies in the middle of
the ordered observation.

 Arithmetic mean (mean)

Sum of all observations
Number of observations
2- Measures of dispersion

 Range
 Variance
 Standard deviation
 Semi-interquartile range
 Coefficient of variation
 “Standard error”
Dr. Mahmoud Al-Naimi