Statistics in medicine

The scope of biomedical research has expanded rapidly during the past several decades, and statistical analysis has become increasingly necessary to understand the meaning of large and diverse quantities of raw data. As such, a familiarity with this lexicon is essential for critical appraisal of medical literature. This article attempts to provide a practical overview of medical statistics, with an emphasis on the selection, application, and interpretation of specific tests. This includes a brief review of statistical theory and its nomenclature, particularly with regard to the classification of variables. A discussion of descriptive methods for data presentation is then provided, followed by an overview of statistical inference and significance analysis, and detailed treatment of specific statistical tests and guidelines for their interpretation.