PUBHLTH 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 63: Newborn Screening, Risk Perception, Mammography
Document Summary
Notes: the science of statistics can quantify the degree of uncertainty, the numbers that describe the health of the population, the science used to interpret these numbers. Statistics: making sense of uncertainty statistics is: Most science is of a probable nature. Science is ongoing studies may contradict each other. The probable is what usually happens. The probability of finding an effect if there is, in fact, an effect. Examples of screening: mammography for breast cancer hiv tests newborn screening. False positive vs. false negative: in the arena of spousal relations: a wife notices lipstick on a husband"s shirt collar (a. But she later verifies that her husband actually encountered his aunt jane at a lunch break at a local fast food outlet. Adjusted rates e. g. , age adjusted. Group specific rates e. g. , gender specific. For well-known risks, can be calculated from historical data. For poorly understood risks, must make many assumptions. Cost is easier to calculate than benefit.
