No comments about The Injury Fact Book.

No comments about Evaluating Research in Health and Social Care (Published in association with The Open University).

1 comments about Foundations of Evidence-Based Medicine.

1. After reading this text I have to say that it is the most complete text on EBM to date. Most EBM texts focus on the statistical basics of EBM which for the average person can appear confusing and difficult to understand. Yet this text goes beyond that to discuss important issues such as clinical reasoning amd decision analysis and lays the groundwork for being able to grasp the statistical significance of EBM.

   The understanding of how the scientific process works in the cognitive aspects of biomedicine is highly stressed. This, in my opinion, is what makes this text valuable. One does not need to have an extensive medical background to understand the basic concepts presented. The book does an excellent job of making EBM easy to comprehend. Students who are interested in a career in biomedicine and the allied health sciences should be encouraged to read this book and once read, will be able to apply what Dr Jenicek discusses to aid them throughout their career.

   A well done text.

1 comments about An Introduction to Clinical Research.

1. This book is solely for clinical research and has little to say outside of that narrow sphere. But a good resource to have nonetheless.

1 comments about Assessing Quality of Life in Clinical Trials: Methods and Practice.

1. This text is a valuable resource for those struggling with some of the methodological challenges inherent in designing and evaluating patient-reported outcomes assessments for use in longitudinal research designs. The chapters are authored by practicing and recognized experts in their respective areas and most chapters are dense with information and useful illustrations.

2 comments about Meta-Analysis in Medicine and Health Policy (Biostatistics (New York, N.Y.), 4.).

1. Dalene Stangl and Don Berry are two of the leading researchers on Bayesian methods and have made major contributions to medical applications. Here they have compiled a collection of excellent papers on recent research into the Bayesian approach to meta-analyses which now includes examination of heterogeneity through the use of random effects models. They contribute an introductory overview chapter and have compiled a number of very interesting state-of-the-art papers by leading researchers. Particularly interesting is the paper by Scott Berry (Don's son) who provides an analysis to show that controversy between meta-analyses and large clinical trials can be resolved through consideration of the study-to-study variability not considered in fixed effects analyses.

   The text can be used for a modern course on Bayesian Meta Analysis. I just took a one-day short course from Dalene on this topic at the joint statistical meetings in Indianapolis. She gave an effective presentation using material from several of the papers in the book.




2. Dalene Stangl and Don Berry are two of the leading researchers on Bayesian methods and have made major contributions to medical applications. Here they have compiled a collection of excellent papers on recent research into the Bayesian approach to meta-analyses which now includes examination of heterogeneity through the use of random effects models. They contribute an introductory overview chapter and have compiled a number of very interesting state-of-the-art papers by leading researchers. Particularly interesting is the paper by Scott Berry (Don's son) who provides an analysis to show that controversy between meta-analyses and large clinical trials can be resolved through consideration of the study-to-study variability not considered in fixed effects analyses.
   The text can be used for a modern course on Bayesian Meta Analysis. I just took a one-day short course from Dalene on this topic at the joint statistical meetings in Indianapolis. She gave an effective presentation using material from several of the papers in the book.

No comments about Spinal Cord Injury: An Analysis of Medical and Social Costs.

2 comments about Culture And Common Mental Disorders In Sub-Saharan Africa (The Maudsley Monograph Series , Number 41).

1. If you are an anthropologist, sociologist, or physician interested in performing fieldwork and top-notch cross-cultural research, then Dr. Vikram Patel's book "Culture and Common Mental Disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa" is a must-read. The author explains in painstaking detail a lucid synthesis of his library research about mental disorders in Africa with truly elegant and meticulous field research that he conducted while practicing and teaching psychiatry in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Although much of the book is presented in technical research terminology, the summary and conclusions sections are clear and thought-provoking. Dr. Patel is truly a pioneer and trailblazer in doing cross-cultural psychiatric research, emulating and expanding on the work of the original guru of cross-cultural psychiatry, Dr. Arthur Kleinman. I recommend this book as a "can't miss" primer on cross-cultural research and pscyhiatric epidemiology.



2. Vickram Patel does a great job to present a conceptual framework for understanding mental health in Africa. The mainstream of mental health theories are preponderately Western and often do not adequately represent the reality of mental health in Africa. An important component in African conceptions of both physical and mental health is spirit possession. More than simple superstition spiritual causality is a phenomenon worthy of the attention of health care givers. Patel's work opens an avenue for beginning to understand the significance of African spirituality in the whole of health. I recommend this book highly for those called to work in health in Africa and particulary for mental health care givers.

No comments about Epidemiological Studies: A Practical Guide.

No comments about Health, Illness, and Medicine in Canada.