Statistics in Pharmacology and Toxicology

In this chapter, we gave an introduction to basic statistics. The topics include definitions of statistical terminologies, sampling distributions, data presentation, and descriptive statistics, designs of an experiment, statistical inference, and regression analysis. We discussed a completely randomized design, randomized block design, Latin square design, factorial design, split plot design, and crossover design that are used in experimental and safety pharmacology studies. For inferential statistics, we discussed methods of point and interval estimations, parametric and nonparametric statistical inferences, and methods of analyzing repeated measures data. We further introduced the techniques of regression analysis and the transformation of variables. The topic of adjustment for multiple testing is also briefly discussed. Some examples of statistical applications in common animal pharmacological studies have been provided.