Question

For the following scenario, please identify the most appropriate statistical method to use. Additionally, describe why it is the most appropriate.

A study was conducted to evaluate the association between complexity of work and the incidence of dementia.  All subjects were free of dementia at baseline.  Time from consent into the study to the development of dementia (or end of study) was measured.  The goal of the statistical analysis was to determine the relationship between high complexity of work (divided into three categories) and the time to development of dementia, after adjustment for sex and education.

Answer 1

Method to use : Logistic regression

Why: Here the decision variable, which is having or not having dementia is a categorical variable. And in addition to this, we are looking to know the association between various factors related to high work complexity with having dementia. All these can be obtained well by developing a model through logistic regression

How : First we need to select a sample which includes both dementia and without dementia candidate, and we need to collect data related to probable factors causing dementia, work complexity is one among them. And we need to asses if work complexity is significantly impacting the decision variable, this can be done using p-value. After assessing this, the behavior of the variable, work complexity, must be studied, as to how exactly it is affecting the decision variable.