A sample dataset containing dispensing events (one per row) for 16 patients
over a period of roughly 24 months (1794 events in total).
This is the appropriate format to compute event durations with the
compute_event_durations function. Each row represent an individual dispensing
record for a specific dose of a specific medication for a patient at a given date.
Visit number and Duration are optional, and more than one column to group medications
can be supplied (such as Form or Unit).
durcomp.dispensingA data frame with 1794 rows and 6 variables:
integer here; patient unique identifier. Can also be string.
Date here;the dispensing event date, by default in the yyyy-mm-dd format. Can also be string.
character; the medication type, according to the WHO ATC
classification system. This can be a researcher-defined classification
depending on study aims (e.g., based on therapeutic use, mechanism of
action, chemical molecule, or pharmaceutical formulation). The compute_event_durations
function will match prescribed medication to dispensed medications based on this variable.
integer; the unit of the dispensed dose. This is optional and can be used as a separate variable to match between prescription and dispensing events.
character; the galenic form of the dispensed preparation. This is optional and can be used as a separate variable to match between prescription and dispensing events.
numeric; the total dispensed dose supplied at this
medication event (e.g., 5000 for 10 tables of 500 mg).