An Introduction to Stata for Health Researchers, Third Edition

Svend Juul is a part-time lecturer in epidemiology in the School of Public Health at Aarhus University in Denmark. He has extensive experience in teaching epidemiology, Stata, and other computer programs to medical students and Ph.D. students in the health sciences. Morten Frydenberg is an associate professor of biostatistics in the School of Public Health at Aarhus University in Denmark. He has more than 20 years of experience as a biostatistical consultant in the health sciences and has taught numerous courses in applied biostatistics at the graduate and postgraduate levels.

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





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





Description and Simple Analysis
Overview of a dataset
Listing observations
Simple tables for categorical variables
Analyzing continuous variables
Estimating confidence intervals
Immediate commands





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
The Graph Editor
Saving, displaying, and printing graphs





Stratified Analysis
Cohort data without censorings
Case–control data





Regression Analysis
Linear regression
Logistic regression
Other regression models
Analyzing complex design data





Incidence, Mortality, and Survival
Incidence and mortality
Survival analysis
Cox regression
Reorganizing st data
Poisson regression
Standardization
Some advanced issues





Measurement and Diagnosis
Reproducibility of measurements
Comparing methods of measurement
Using tests for diagnosis
Combining test results





Miscellaneous
Random samples, simulations
Sample size and study power
Other analyses





Advanced Topics
Using saved results
Macros and scalars
Programs
Useful programming commands
Do-files and ado-files useful for handling output





Taking Good Care of Your Data
The audit trail
Data collection
The codebook
Folders and filenames: the log book
Entering data
Inspecting and correcting your data
Modifying data
Analysis
Backing up and archiving
Protecting against abuse





Appendix: Manuals and Other Good Books
Stata manuals
Other books on Stata
Books using Stata





Appendix: Exercises
The user interface
Managing output
Calculations
Working with missing values
Working with date variables
Description and simple analysis
Taking good care of your data





Appendix: Advice on Working with Windows





References


Indices