Introduction to Stata for Health Researchers, Fourth Edition

This book focuses on the analyses used most often in health research. It covers various graph types, calculation commands, commands to modify data set structure, simple analyses of categorical and continuous variables, regression models, incidence and survival analysis, and measurement and diagnosis.

The Basics Getting Started Installing and updating Stata Starting and exiting Stata Customizing Stata (Windows) Windows in Stata Issuing commands Managing output Reusing commands Getting Help-and More The manuals Online help Other resources Errors and error messages Stata File Types and Names Command Syntax General syntax rules Syntax diagrams Lists of variables and numbers Qualifiers Weights Options Prefixes Other syntax elements Version control Data Management Variables Types of variables Numeric formats Missing values Storage types and precision Date and time variables String variables Memory considerations Getting Data in and out of Stata Opening and saving Stata data Entering data Reading ASCII data Exchanging data with other programs Documentation Commands Labels Working with labels: an example Calculations Generate and replace Operators and functions in calculations Extended functions: egen Recoding variables Checking correctness of calculations Numbering observations Commands Affecting Data Structure Safeguarding your data Selecting observations and variables Renaming and reordering variables Sorting data Combining files Reshaping data Taking Good Care of Your Data The audit trail Collecting and entering data Data management Analysis Protect your data Archiving the project Analysis Description and Simple Analysis Overview of a dataset Listing observations Simple tables for categorical variables Analyzing continuous variables Estimating confidence intervals Immediate commands Regression Analysis Linear regression Regression postestimation Categorical predictors-factor variables Interactions in regression models Logistic regression Other regression models Nonindependent observations Time-to-Event Data Setting the time scale and event: The stset command The Kaplan-Meier survival function Tabulating rates Cox proportional hazards regression Preparing data for advanced survival analyses Advanced survival modeling Poisson regression Standardization Measurement and Diagnosis Comparing two measurements Reproducibility of measurements Using tests for diagnosis Miscellaneous Random samples, simulations Power and sample-size analysis Commands that influence program flow Decimal periods and commas Logging output permanently Other analyses Graphs Graphs Anatomy of a graph Anatomy of graph commands Graph size Schemes Graph options: axes Graph options: text elements Plot options: markers, lines, etc. Graph examples By-graphs and combined graphs Using dialogs to generate commands Saving, displaying, and printing graphs Advanced Topics Advanced Topics Using saved results Macros and scalars Some useful commands Programs Debugging programs Appendices A: Stata Manuals B: Exercises C: Shortcuts and Keystrokes References Indices