Biostatistics

Biostatistics is the application of statistical methods to biological, medical, and public health problems. It encompasses the design of studies, collection and management of data, analysis, interpretation, and communication of results.

Historically, biostatistics emerged from medical statistics and epidemiology. Developments in the 20th and 21st centuries include randomized controlled trials, survival analysis, regression modeling, and Bayesian methods that integrate prior information.

Key methods include study design (randomized trials, cohort, case-control, cross-sectional), descriptive statistics, estimation, hypothesis testing, and confidence intervals. Common models include linear and logistic regression, survival models, generalized linear models, and mixed effects models. Techniques address data issues such as bias, missing data, multiple testing, and power and sample size planning. Bayesian approaches provide probability-based inferences and can incorporate prior knowledge.

Biostatistics is essential in clinical trials for assessing treatment effects, in epidemiology for measuring associations and risks, and in public health for surveillance and evaluation of interventions. Data sources include clinical trials, electronic health records, registries, and surveys. The results guide medical decision-making, policy, and resource allocation.

Ethical considerations include privacy, informed consent, and transparent reporting. Reproducibility and open science practices, such as preregistration and sharing code and data where possible, are emphasized.

Professionals in biostatistics collaborate with clinicians, researchers, and policymakers. Training typically combines statistics with biology or medicine, and biostatisticians work in academia, industry, healthcare systems, and government agencies.