Currently, icu_entry returns whether or not an encounter had been admitted to ICU, including those with ICU_admit time <= IP_admit time.
In research projects, ICU admissions are often a study outcome, which should not take place at the same time as the exposures of interest. Therefore, a new feature will be added to the icu_entry function to enable returning ICU admissions post exposure.
The new feature should allow the options to return ICU-admission as a descriptive feature (current version) or ICU-admission as a clinical outcome.
Ideally, it should also allow users to specify a buffer window in which ICU-admissions will not be considered as a TRUE ICU admission (thus coded as icu_entry=F) when it is a clinical outcome.
New Feature Request
Currently,
icu_entryreturns whether or not an encounter had been admitted to ICU, including those with ICU_admit time <= IP_admit time. In research projects, ICU admissions are often a study outcome, which should not take place at the same time as the exposures of interest. Therefore, a new feature will be added to theicu_entryfunction to enable returning ICU admissions post exposure.