A Note on Factor Analysis Applied in Medical Research

Abstract

The empirical analysis of the data observed in the field of medical science is based on some qualitative as well as quantitative character. But some of the characters are common with other characters of human being. For example, diabetes depends on age, height, weight, food habit, income, occupation, etc. In some studies, in both home and abroad, it was observed that body mass index (BMI) or in other words, higher level of obesity is one of the responsible factors for diabetes [1-6]. But BMI is a character which is measured using the character weight and height and level of obesity is decided using the level of BMI. Hence level of obesity is a common character among the characters height, weight, and BMI. Therefore, to study the impact of height and weight on diabetes, it is better to study the impact of BMI on diabetes. The statistical tool to select such a character among many characters is known as factor analysis.