The Biostatistics is the application of statistics in biology. As the objects of study of Biology are very varied, such as medicine, agricultural sciences, among others, it is that Biostatistics has had to expand its field to thus include any quantitative model, not only statistical, and that then can be employed to respond to timely needs.
In other words, biostatistics is applied to the sciences associated with life, as we have already said, biology, genetics or medicine, and the typical procedures of regular statistics, such as data collection, inferences from them, among others, they are put at their service. The mission is to be associated with the scientific method in order to guarantee an improvement or perfection, with the data obtained, in each area.
What is statistics and what is it for?
Statistics is a discipline that from its origin is dedicated to the collection and analysis of various data and information that is collected through different methodologies, because its purpose is to interpret them in a way that can provide concrete and argued explanations about the phenomena in study. Thanks to the work of statistics, it is possible to have a certain panorama on a subject and thus be able to decide policies that allow improving the aspects that demand it.
Somehow, the Biostatistics it could be considered as a specialized branch of medical informatics (application of communications and informatics to health), further complemented by Bioinformatics (application of computer technology to the management and analysis of biological data).
The main advantage of statistical thinking intervening in biology is that it not only solves but also includes a complex methodology to respond to hypotheses, in addition to streamlining the question of organization of the research system, from the general design, the sampling design, the control of the quality of information and the presentation of the results.
origins
The origins of Biostatistics, of course in a more elementary way but origins in the end, date back to the 19th century and have the English nurse as a precursor Florence Nightingale, who during the development of the Crimean War was concerned with observing the phenomenon that indicated that there were many more casualties that occurred in the hospital than in the battle front, then, he began to collect information and deduced that the aforementioned situation was It was due to the very bad hygienic conditions that prevailed in the hospitals. This conclusion allowed, from then on, to work on the importance and need for hygiene in health centers. Today it practically does not turn out to be a topic to be discussed but an urgent need and impossible to ignore in a health center. All areas must present extreme hygiene conditions, a fact that is achieved through good cleaning and disinfection but also with the collaboration of doctors and patients who comply with hygiene safety regulations.
Main applications
Among the most outstanding benefits in which this discipline has collaborated are: the development of new drugs, understanding of chronic diseases such as cancer or AIDS.
Meanwhile, at present, the application of Biostatistics turns out to be fundamental and necessary in areas such as public health, including epidemiology, environmental health, nutrition and health services, genetic populations, medicine, ecology and bioassays.
Being already in more specific extremes regarding its applications, we will resort to some very concrete examples such as its participation in the test of medicines to combat a disease or condition; determining the ways in which a disease spreads, taking into account issues such as patient characteristics, environmental conditions, among the most important; the relationship between mortality and birth rate; the possibility of evaluating a health policy during a certain period, that is, whether it was satisfactory or not.
From all this that we mentioned, without a doubt, it can be appreciated that the arrival of biostatistics in these areas has been a discovery and an incredible opportunity to advance in the eradication of diseases and ills that afflict the world population. And also to improve methods of treatment and diagnosis, knowing the characteristics of the places and the people who inhabit them.
