Introduction to Rates and Survival Analysis
This course introduces the analysis of survival-time outcomes, consisting of the time each person "survives" until some specified event occurs. Bristol Medical School staff teaching on this course use diverse survival analysis methods in their research.
| Dates |
26 - 28 June 2024*
|
|---|---|
| Fee | £550 |
| Format | Online |
| Audience | Open to all applicants (prerequisites apply) |
*Advisory: previously advertised as 3-5 July
Course profile
This course aims to give students a grounding in the theory behind the methods most commonly used to analyse rates and survival-time data, as well as extensive hands-on experience of their application in Stata software.
Please click on the sections below for more information.
Structure
This course runs online. There will be a short pre-recorded lecture and practical to do as pre-course preparation. The main course will be taught live, consecutively over 2 full days and 1 half day. There will be online lectures, practicals (mostly in Stata) and Q&A sessions. A short pre-recorded summary of each day will be made available.
Intended Learning Objectives
By the end of the course participants should be able to:
- calculate and interpret measures of disease rates and exposure effects;
- manage and manipulate survival-time data in Stata;
- produce and interpret graphical displays appropriate for survival analysis;
- analyse survival-time data using Poisson and Cox regression models;
- evaluate the uses and limitations of different methods for rates and survival analysis;
- compare and test the assumptions made by different statistical methods;
- model covariates which vary through time in survival analyses; and
- interpret the results of survival analyses presented in the published literature.
Target audience
The course is intended for researchers and analysts who wish to analyse and understand survival-time data (time to event data). We focus on popular methods of analysing these types of data, mainly Poisson and Cox regression.
Outline
The course will cover:
1. definition of rates and the relation between risks and rates;
2. manipulating person-time data in Stata using the st commands;
3. analysis of rates using Mantel-Haenszel methods and Poisson regression;
4. splitting follow-up time to allow for exposures that change with time;
5. introduction to survival analysis;
6. log rank tests and Cox proportional hazards regression;
7. testing for proportional hazards and modelling non-proportional hazards;
8. survival-time data management; and
9. choosing between survival analysis methods.
Please note that 'repeated measures' analyses, in which multiple events or measurements are recorded in the same person over time, are not covered in this course.
Teaching staff
Dr David Carslake is a senior research associate in the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol. He has made extensive use of survival analysis methods, particularly Cox regression in instrumental variable analyses.
Dr Theresa Redaniel is a senior lecturer in Health Services Research and Epidemiology in Bristol Medical School. Her interests include health care evaluation, health services delivery, adverse childhood experiences, and mental health.
Dr Suzanne Ingle is a research fellow in Medical Statistics in Bristol Medical School. She has more than ten years' experience using survival analyses, particularly competing risk models, in HIV research.
Professor Jonathan Sterne is a professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology in Bristol Medical School, Director of the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre and Director of Health Data Research UK South-West. His interests include methods to make causal inferences from observational electronic health record data, methodology for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and the clinical epidemiology of HIV and AIDS.
Dr Elinor Curnow is a senior research associate in Biostatistics and Epidemiology in Bristol Medical School.
Dr Adam Trickey is a research fellow in Bristol Medical School investigating the links between climate change and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.
Prerequisites
To make sure the course is suitable for you and you will benefit from attending, please ensure you meet the following prerequisites before booking:
| Knowledge | Participants should be familiar with the basic Stata commands used to open a dataset, get help on a command, and explore, create and edit variables. Participants should have a knowledge of regression analyses and their implementation in Stata of at least the level achieved in the Introduction to Linear and Logistic Regression Models short course. |
|---|---|
| Software |
Participants will need a computer and internet connection capable of video conferencing whilst running Stata (datasets used in the course are all small). You must have Stata (version 12 or later)* installed in advance of the course. *Internal University of Bristol participants are given access to Stata. Go to Stata Installation Instructions (internal only) for help setting it up before the start of the course. External participants are responsible for providing their own access to Stata, however if you are an employee of a university or another institution you may be able to get a short term free Evaluate license. If you are a student, Stata offer a short term free Student licence (one week). |
| Recommendation | The Stata practicals will be much easier if you have two screens (one for Stata, one for the instructions). If you do not have a second screen but have access to a printer, we suggest that you print the practical instructions in advance of the course. We will provide these as a printable pdf file. |
Bookings
Before booking this course, please make sure you read the information provided above about the target audience and prerequisites. It is important that you have access to the relevant IT resources needed for the course and meet the knowledge prerequisites to ensure you can get the most from the course.
Bookings are taken via our online booking system, for which you must register an account. To check if you are eligible for free or discounted courses please see our fees and voucher packs page. All bookings are subject to our terms & conditions, which can be read in full here.
For help and support with booking a course refer to our booking information page, FAQs or feel free to contact us directly. For available payment options please see: How to pay your short course fees.
Course materials
Participants are granted access to our virtual learning platform (Blackboard) approximately 2 weeks in advance of the course. This allows time for any pre-course work to be completed and to familiarise with the platform.
To gain the most from the course, we recommend that you attend in full and participate in all interactive components. We endeavour to record all live lecture sessions and upload these to the online learning environment within 24 hours. This allows course participants to review these sessions at leisure and revisit them multiple times. Please note that we do not record breakout sessions.
All course participants retain access to the online learning materials and recordings for 3 months after the course.
University of Bristol staff and postgraduate students who do not wish to attend the full course may instead register for access to the 'Materials & Recordings' version of this course: Further information and bookings.
Testimonials
100% of attendees recommend this course*.
*Attendee feedback from 2022-2023.
Here is a sample of feedback from the last run of the course:
“Excellent course. Run at a good pace and allows to ask questions. Good balance between lectures and practicals”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
“The lectures were easy to follow and the practical's were really well put together and informative. I really enjoyed this course :)”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
“Really good course, thank you. Liked the set up of lecture and then practicals. Covered a lot of information”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
“Clear slides, good pace and helpful do/dta files”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
"Very good pre-course info + practical exercise. Good mix of lecturers".
Course feedback, April 2023.
“Good notes, knowledgable teachers, and good do files to accompany the practical activities which will be a useful resource for later”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
“I thought all the speakers were clear and concise - David in particular was brilliant and patient”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
“I highly recommend this course to anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of rates and survival analysis. The content was rich and informative. The course instructors are highly knowledgeable about the subject and were available to answer questions and assist participants in resolving issues. The course materials provided also facilitated the learning process”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
“I found the level of detail to be good. Quite a lot to take in during the 3 days, but it's great that I can now go back in and re-watch and re-read the materials for a good amount of time”.
Course feedback, April 2023.
Book this short course
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I highly recommend this course to anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of rates and survival analysis. The content was rich and informative. The course instructors are highly knowledgeable about the subject and were available to answer questions and assist participants in resolving issues. The course materials provided also facilitated the learning process.
Dates don't work? Just need a refresher?
Find out about the self-paced Materials & Recordings version of this course [UoB only].