MIXED MODELS ANALYSIS OF MEDICAL DATA USING SAS

Edinburgh, 1-3 October 2008

Course content:

This course will cover the statistical background to the mixed model
and will emphasise its practical application in medical data with
particular reference to clinical trials. All analyses will be
illustrated using SAS and lectures will be combined with practical
sessions in order to reinforce concepts. Topics covered include:

Day 1
-	General concepts and underlying statistical theory
-	Use and interpretation of PROC MIXED
-	Multi-centre trials and meta-analysis
-	Consideration of issues such as biased standard errors, significance
        testing and negative variance components.

Day 2
-	Repeated measures trials
-	Random coefficients models
-	Crossover trials
-	More complex trial designs
-	Introduction to Bayesian methods.

Day 3
-	Generalised linear mixed models
-	Mixed models for ordinal data
-	Use and interpretation of PROC GENMOD and PROC GLIMMIX

Who should attend:

This course is directed at medical statisticians who wish to understand
the statistical background to mixed models and to carry out analyses
using SAS.

Why attend:

Conventionally, clinical data is analysed using fixed effects models.
However, benefits can often be gained by using a mixed model. For
example: in repeated measures trials full allowance can be made for the
correlation occurring between the repeated observations even if data
are missing; in multicentre trials or meta analyses treatment standard
errors are more appropriately based on between centre/trial variation
(fixed effects standard errors are based on within  centre/trial
variation); in crossover trials more accurate treatment means are often
achieved by combining within and between patient estimates.Suitable
procedures are now readily available for fitting these models well
known packages such as SAS. This has led widespread application and
knowledge of mixed models becoming essential for medical statisticians.
As with any statistical technique a firm understanding of the
theoretical background is essential to allow its effective application
and to obtain a clear interpretation of results.

Course fees:

Standard rate					£850
Registered charities/academic institutions	£650

Fees include daily morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea, a course
dinner and a delegate?s pack including full course notes.

The speakers:

Robin Prescott is Director of the Medical Statistics Unit of The
University of Edinburgh and is Professor of Health Technology
Assessment. He has been working in the medical field for over thirty
years and has a particular interest in cross-over trials. He has wide
experience of multi-centre trials and of working with the
pharmaceutical industry.

Helen Brown is a Principal Statistician for the NHS in Scotland. She
has over twenty years of practical experience as a statistician
including five spent in the pharmaceutical industry.

The speakers are the authors of Applied Mixed Models in Medicine, in
the John Wiley Statistics in Practice series.

Venue:

The course will take place in the Holiday Inn, Edinburgh-North, one
mile from the city centre and easily accessible from the main railway
station and airport.

Accommodation:

Course participants have the opportunity to stay at the Holiday Inn,
Edinburgh-North at a reduced rate. All bedrooms in the hotel have modem
points.

For further information please contact the Reservations department on
0131 332 2442 quoting University of Edinburgh. Alternatively please
contact our accommodation agency:  Murray Accommodation, telephone
08707 509808, or visit www.murray-accommodation.co.uk

Further information:

Please email [log in to unmask] or call +44 (131) 651 1180 for
further information. Alternatively you can book online at:
www.lifelong.ed.ac.uk/cpd/courses.


-- 
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.