A sample dataset containing prescription events (one per row) for 16 patients
over a period of roughly 15 months (1502 events in total).
This is the appropriate format to compute event durations with the
compute_event_durations function. Each row represents an individual prescription
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 ATC Code, Form or Unit).
durcomp.prescribingA data table with 1502 rows and 8 variables:
integer here; patient unique identifier. Can also be string.
Date here;the prescription event date, by default in the yyyy-mm-dd format. Can also be string.
integer; the consecutive number of the prescription instances. This column is optional and will be generated internally when not supplied. It is used to identify treatment interruptions.
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.
character; the galenic form of the prescribed preparation. This is optional and can be used as a separate variable to match between prescription and dispensing events.
integer; the unit of the prescribed dose. This is optional and can be used as a separate variable to match between prescription and dispensing events.
numeric; the duration (in days) for which the prescription
is intended. Can be NA if the prescription is continuous without a fixed end date.
numeric; the daily dose prescribed during this event (e.g., 50 for 1 tablet
of 50 mg per day or 25 for 1 tablet of 50 mg every two days).