Customer Reviews

Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Simply put, this is one of the best textbooks that I've come across in epidemiology. I used it as a primary resource when studying for my qualifying exams and found it to be extremely helpful.

As an intermediate text, it's more substantial than Hennekin's Epidemiology in Medicine, but not as dense as Rothman and Greelands' Modern Epidemiology. The text reads very easily and gets to the point. In particular, the authors did an exceptional job at laying out the different types of study designs with illustrations that make conceptual sense, as well as, pulling them all together. The discussions on bias are also very helpful, and I like the way that they sectioned off the different types of bias. The book also goes over some of the application of both classical and multivariate methods, and highlights the usefulness and caveats of each method.

As a fervent student of epidemiology, I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a clearer grasp of epi concepts.

This textbook covers advanced epidemiology concepts that are necessary for anyone involved in research. It has excellent examples and a logical layout. The major drawback to this book is the writing style-- it is "scientifically" written (translation: hard to read).

The sentences are unnecessarily long, full of unnecessary prepositions and fluff, redundant, and they repeat themselves (see what I mean?).

The following example:

"Consequently, and as underscored in the sections that follow, the interpretation of the multiple regression coefficients is similar for all these models, varying only with regard to the outcome variable."

Could simply be:

Consequently, the multiple regression coefficients for all these models have similar interpretations, varying only by outcome variable.

This textbook gets a 5 for content and a 2 for style.

This book is a wonderful book for those 2nd year Master's Epidemiology students who want a detailed but direct resource book for any and all ideas within graduate school. As the title entails, this is not an introductory book or for anyone who is new to the subject. I particularly love the chapter on confounding - it has helped me greatly with writing my thesis. The information is very deep at times, however, but is straight enough to be able to use as a quick resource for any forgotten first year ideas. I recommend this as a NECESSARY book for all graduate students and new professional epidemiologists. It's a timeless book that will more than pay for itself in its usefulness.

Agree with most of the other reviewers - this IS a very well written text and does a great job at explaining many complex concepts (I too had many lightbulbs go off when reading this text).

I think its strength is that it is written for a reasonably advanced level (i.e., this is NOT meant for intro epi students) and goes into more depth (and more up-to-date examples) than Kelsey, without being as undecipherable as Rothman. Lots of relevant examples that illustrate the concepts discussed in the text, and broken into logical sections. This is a text I will continue to use throughout my career.

I used this to study for my qualifiers. The school I attend uses Modelrn Epidemiology, but I wanted something more focused. This book is really well written & clear - a lot of lightbulbs went on as I read it.

This is a recommended reading for the advance training clinical research class. First time I read this book before the class - felt so confusing and could not finish the first chapter. However, after instruction class - I read it again and found it provide clear figures and examples to add on clear concepts in class lecture. The formal writting style may need high concentration in reading, meanwhile it give clear definition, good for using as reference. In conclusion, this book provide deep understanding for "beyond the basics epidemiology" student espacially accompany with course.

Updated: I learnt that there are some terminology that the reader need calibrate with current concept eg. "Nested case control", Definition of confounding.

The first thing one notices is that the authors continuously cite Gordis as a reference; one might've just purchased Gordis instead of this book. From a reductionist point of view, everything contained in Szklo and Nieto is almost also the same as everything contained in Gordis, except for the illustrations (which are not that great in Gordis, either). However, one thing that is missing in Gordis, but present in this book, are the algebraic derivations of many measurement of association equations (i.e., relative risk, odds ratios, attributable risk, etc.). Szklo and Nieto also dedicate more time in describing various aspects of different epidemiological studies, such as in the selection of cases and controls, their related measurements of association, and relevant examples from the literature or current studies. In addition, the chapters are organized rather dryly, similar to a calculus text book (i.e, Chapter 4, Section 4.1, 4.1.1, 4.1.1.1, etc.), though that may just be the reason why this book is recommended for the more "serious" intermediate epidemiology student.

This book will be an excellent choice if you already know the basics and do not plan to become a full time professional research epidemiologist; if you do not rule out becoming a professional research epidemiologist, this will still be a very good buy. The best choice for the intermediate to advanced student. It is updated, comprehensive, accurate, and fully reliable.

This book is completly readable and very clear. It is challenging in that the authors do not gloss over concepts - so not for those who only want a superficial understanding of the topics. If you are mourning the change in reader-friendly first edition of Modern Epidemiology (Rothman et al.) to the dense and unreadable tome it has become, you will find this a welcome alternative.

This is an awesome book. It covers a few topics of epidemiology but does them in an awesome way..
I feel the only drawback is that it does not cover an exhaustive list of topics. Hence, if you are looking for something specific, you might want to first look at the book at a local library and see if it features the topic of interest..
Good book for the price..