st: RE: How to search in a large database the id of patients whos medication is revised

["Nick Cox" <n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk>]

Good answers from Joseph Coveney and Tony Lachenbruch left scope for
further suggestions. 

First, any interval for which the same patient has the same medication
could be considered a "spell". Machinery for handling spells is
discussed in detail within 

SJ-7-2  dm0029  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speaking Stata: Identifying
spells
        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N.
J. Cox
        Q2/07   SJ 7(2):249--265                                 (no
commands)
        shows how to handle spells with complete control over
        spell specification

and a compact minimum toolbox is provided in -tsspell- from SSC. Note
that the paper and the package are orthogonal. If you understand the
paper, you don't need the package, and that is also true in reverse, but
with a different sense of "understand". 

Second, as was pointed out earlier no example of data reached the list
despite the promise here. So, some things remain unclear. For example,
how come if the same drugs are prescribed that may be considered
"revised"? Is there intent to consider both which drugs are prescribed
and in what quantities? 

Nick 
n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk 

Muhammad Riaz
 
I would be grateful if somebody could give me a syntax for a command  to
look at the id whether any patients have received a the same or
different prescription. 
 
A patient gets prescription for medication, the medication could be one
of (say A, B, C) for the same disease. the patients prescription might
be revised may be with old medication or any other out of the three (A,
B, C) at another date. Just to make it clear that the prescription is
not revised for all patients but revised for some of them. I want to
search the ids of patients whose prescription is revised and to see
whether it is revised with the same medication or any other out of three
(A, B, C). the database look like as below 
 
for example medication (A) is revised for id=100002120 at date 23-Dec-09
and 28-Feb-10. I need run pick up these repeated ids and see there
medication whether it is the same or different.
 

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