Efficient and effective use of longitudinal data

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Information gathered in medical studies is often underused. Sometimes, this is because of problems with data collection, where participants decline to provide answers to certain questions, or decide to discontinue treatment before the end of a drug trial. Other times, a lack of simple tools to extract relevant findings can restrict a researcher‘s ability to delve deeply into the data.Much existing data is longitudinal, where study subjects are followed over several weeks, months or years. Longitudinal data is particularly valuable because it is possible to observe changes in health conditions resulting from life events or clinical interventions. One convenient approach to understanding longitudinal data is to focus on these changes, using statistical models to separate out the predictable effects of past lifestyle and treatment decisions from the unpredictable aspects of human biology and behaviour.This fellowship will provide statistical tools to make fuller use of longitudinal studies. These tools are designed to deal simply with the uncertainty surrounding incomplete patient records, allowing meaningful conclusions to be drawn about disease prognosis and progression. Re-examining existing data using these new tools has considerable potential to improve human health through better scientific understanding.