[Epidemiology of bone and joint disease - the present and future - . The importance of study designs and statistical analysis in epidemiology].

In epidemiological studies where researchers investigate the factors that can affect human health, the theory and methodology of the statistics are a powerful tool to assert findings the data indicate. On the other hand, study designs and data analyses that are made without fully understanding the statistics can easily make it difficult to achieve the study goals or lead to misleading results. In this article, some basics researchers should know in epidemiological studies and some issues they may often misunderstand are addressed, with a particular focus at study designing and data analysis.