Practical Epidemiology with Generalized Linear Models

This book was developed with the goal to help health researchers and biostatisticians on the use of generalized linear models applied to epidemiology. It is a book focused on the common epidemiological measures such as risk, incidence rate, relative risk, risk difference, incidence rate ratio and odds ratio. It is a guide to determine the epidemiological effect measures using regression models. The book will cover person-time analysis and the use of the Binomial, Poisson, and Negative Binomial distributions. Implications of the use of the Poisson distribution to epidemiological data will be discussed, as well as the Poisson robust estimation. Generalized Estimating Equations will be shown for longitudinal clinical studies with time correlated data. The book will end with the correspondent software procedures to analyze epidemiological data, including SPSS and SAS procedures. It’s a book focused on the practical thought, although the fundamental theoretical principles have been covered.