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308 lines
17 KiB
Markdown
# REDCapRITS
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REDCap Repeating Instrument Table Splitter
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Modified fork of SpectrumHealthResearch/REDCapRITS. Thsi fork is purely minded on R usage.
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REDCap Repeating Instrument Table Splitter
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===========================================
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Paul W. Egeler, M.S., GStat
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Spectrum Health Office of Research Administration
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13 July 2017
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## Table of Contents
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* [Table of Contents](#table-of-contents)
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* [Description](#description)
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* [Illustration](#illustration)
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* [Supported Platforms](#supported-platforms)
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* [Coming Soon](#coming-soon)
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* [Instructions](#instructions)
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* [R](#r)
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* [Installation](#installation)
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* [Usage](#usage)
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* [Examples](#examples)
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* [SAS](#sas)
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* [Examples](#examples-1)
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* [Issues](#issues)
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* [About REDCap](#about-redcap)
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* [References](#references)
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## Description
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So the new buzz in the REDCap world seems to be Repeating Instruments
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and Events. Certainly there is potential for a lot of utility in this
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feature and I was excited to try it out. I know I will be using this
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feature a lot in the future.
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Unfortunately, I was not very happy with the way the data was exported
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either via CSV or API call. When you conceptualize the data model for
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a Repeating Instrument, you probably think of a multi-table model. You
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might expect that the non-repeating instruments may constitute one table
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that would be related to Repeating Instruments tables via a one-to-many
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relationship. In reality, the data is outputted as one table with all
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possible fields; this has the effect of nesting the output table in a
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way that is not useful in most analysis software.
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The normalized data can be retrieved by downloading repeating instruments individually then doing a little
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data munging or by writing a few custom parameters in a series of API calls (then doing more data munging),
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but this is a lot of extra steps that can make reproducible research more difficult.
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REDCapRITS is a programmatic solution to handle the problem in both SAS and R.
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### Illustration
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For example, consider this mocked-up data exported from a REDCap project with repeating instruments.
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The data contains information on a subset of cars in R's built-in `mtcars` dataset [1].
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Within the table there is also a repeating instrument, *sales*, which has sales transaction
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data for some of those cars.
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| car_id|redcap_repeat_instrument |redcap_repeat_instance |make |model |mpg |cyl |motor_trend_cars_complete |price |color |customer |sale_complete |
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|------:|:------------------------|:----------------------|:--------|:-----------|:----|:---|:-------------------------|:--------|:-----|:--------|:-------------|
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| 1| | |AMC |Javelin |15.2 |8 |1 | | | | |
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| 1|sale |1 | | | | | |12000.50 |1 |Bob |0 |
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| 1|sale |2 | | | | | |13750.77 |3 |Sue |2 |
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| 1|sale |3 | | | | | |15004.57 |2 |Kim |0 |
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| 2| | |Cadillac |Fleetwood |10.4 |8 |0 | | | | |
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| 3| | |Camaro |Z28 |13.3 |8 |0 | | | | |
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| 3|sale |1 | | | | | |7800.00 |2 |Janice |2 |
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| 3|sale |2 | | | | | |8000.00 |3 |Tim |0 |
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| 4| | |Chrysler |Imperial |14.7 |8 |0 | | | | |
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| 4|sale |1 | | | | | |7500.00 |1 |Jim |2 |
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| 5| | |Datsun |710 |22.8 |4 |0 | | | | |
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| 6| | |Dodge |Challenger |15.5 |8 |0 | | | | |
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| 7| | |Duster |360 |14.3 |8 |0 | | | | |
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| 7|sale |1 | | | | | |8756.40 |4 |Sarah |1 |
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| 7|sale |2 | | | | | |6800.88 |2 |Pablo |0 |
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| 7|sale |3 | | | | | |8888.88 |1 |Erica |0 |
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| 7|sale |4 | | | | | |970.00 |4 |Juan |0 |
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| 8| | |Ferrari |Dino |19.7 |6 |0 | | | | |
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| 9| | |Mazda |RX4 Wag |21 |6 |0 | | | | |
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| 10| | |Merc |230 |22.8 |4 |0 | | | | |
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| 10|sale |1 | | | | | |7800.98 |2 |Ted |0 |
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| 10|sale |2 | | | | | |7954.00 |1 |Quentin |0 |
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| 10|sale |3 | | | | | |6800.55 |3 |Sharon |2 |
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You can see that the data from the non-repeating form (primary table) is interlaced with the data in the repeating form,
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creating a checkerboard pattern. In order to do analysis, the data must be normalized and then the tables rejoined.
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Normalization would result in two tables: 1) a *primary* table and 2) a *sale* table.
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The normalized tables would look like this:
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**Primary table**
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| car_id|make |model |mpg |cyl |motor_trend_cars_complete |
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|------:|:--------|:----------|:----|:---|:-------------------------|
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| 1|AMC |Javelin |15.2 |8 |1 |
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| 2|Cadillac |Fleetwood |10.4 |8 |0 |
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| 3|Camaro |Z28 |13.3 |8 |0 |
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| 4|Chrysler |Imperial |14.7 |8 |0 |
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| 5|Datsun |710 |22.8 |4 |0 |
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| 6|Dodge |Challenger |15.5 |8 |0 |
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| 7|Duster |360 |14.3 |8 |0 |
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| 8|Ferrari |Dino |19.7 |6 |0 |
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| 9|Mazda |RX4 Wag |21 |6 |0 |
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| 10|Merc |230 |22.8 |4 |0 |
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**Sale table**
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|car_id |redcap_repeat_instrument |redcap_repeat_instance |price |color |customer |sale_complete |
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|:------|:------------------------|:----------------------|:--------|:-----|:--------|:-------------|
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|1 |sale |1 |12000.50 |1 |Bob |0 |
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|1 |sale |2 |13750.77 |3 |Sue |2 |
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|1 |sale |3 |15004.57 |2 |Kim |0 |
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|3 |sale |1 |7800.00 |2 |Janice |2 |
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|3 |sale |2 |8000.00 |3 |Tim |0 |
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|4 |sale |1 |7500.00 |1 |Jim |2 |
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|7 |sale |1 |8756.40 |4 |Sarah |1 |
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|7 |sale |2 |6800.88 |2 |Pablo |0 |
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|7 |sale |3 |8888.88 |1 |Erica |0 |
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|7 |sale |4 |970.00 |4 |Juan |0 |
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|10 |sale |1 |7800.98 |2 |Ted |0 |
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|10 |sale |2 |7954.00 |1 |Quentin |0 |
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|10 |sale |3 |6800.55 |3 |Sharon |2 |
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Suppose you would like to do some analysis such as sale price by make of car or find
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the most popular color for each model. To do so, you can join the tables together with
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relational algebra. After inner joining the *primary* table to the *sale* table on `car_id`
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and selecting only the fields you are interested in,
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your resulting analytic dataset might look something like this:
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| car_id|make |model |price |color |customer |
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|------:|:--------|:--------|:--------|:-----|:--------|
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| 1|AMC |Javelin |12000.50 |1 |Bob |
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| 1|AMC |Javelin |13750.77 |3 |Sue |
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| 1|AMC |Javelin |15004.57 |2 |Kim |
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| 3|Camaro |Z28 |7800.00 |2 |Janice |
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| 3|Camaro |Z28 |8000.00 |3 |Tim |
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| 4|Chrysler |Imperial |7500.00 |1 |Jim |
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| 7|Duster |360 |8756.40 |4 |Sarah |
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| 7|Duster |360 |6800.88 |2 |Pablo |
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| 7|Duster |360 |8888.88 |1 |Erica |
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| 7|Duster |360 |970.00 |4 |Juan |
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| 10|Merc |230 |7800.98 |2 |Ted |
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| 10|Merc |230 |7954.00 |1 |Quentin |
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| 10|Merc |230 |6800.55 |3 |Sharon |
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Such a join can be accomplished numerous ways. Just to name a few:
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- SAS
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- [`PROC SQL`](http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/proc/61895/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a002473709.htm)
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- The [`MERGE`](http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/lrdict/64316/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a000202970.htm) statement in a `DATA` step
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- R
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- [`dplyr::*_join`](https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/dplyr/versions/0.7.5/topics/join)
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- [`sqldf::sqldf`](https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/sqldf/versions/0.4-11/topics/sqldf)
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- [`base::merge`](https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/base/versions/3.5.0/topics/merge)
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### Supported Platforms
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Currently, the R and SAS code is well-tested with mocked-up data.
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- R
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- SAS
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I have made some effort to replicate the
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messiness of real-world data and have tried to include as many special cases and data types as possible.
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However, this code may not account for all contingencies or changes in the native REDCap export format.
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If you find a bug, please feel free to open an issue or pull request.
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#### Coming Soon
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Currently, we have given some consideration to expand the capabilities into the following languages.
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- Python
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- VBA
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If you have some talents in these or other languages, please feel free to open a pull request! We
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welcome your contributions!
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## Instructions
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### R
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[![Travis-CI Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/SpectrumHealthResearch/REDCapRITS.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/SpectrumHealthResearch/REDCapRITS)
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[![AppVeyor Build Status](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/github/SpectrumHealthResearch/REDCapRITS?branch=master&svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/pegeler/REDCapRITS)
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#### Installation
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First you must install the package. To do so, execute the following in your R console:
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```r
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if (!require(devtools)) install.packages("devtools")
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devtools::install_github("SpectrumHealthResearch/REDCapRITS/R")
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```
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#### Usage
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After the package is installed, follow these instructions:
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1. Download the record dataset and metadata (data dictionary). This can
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be accomplished by several methods:
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- Using the API. Check with your REDCap administrator for details.
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- Exporting the data from the web interface by selecting *CSV / Microsoft Excel (raw data)*.
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- Exporting the data from the web interface by selecting *R Statistical Software*.
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If you use this method, you may run the R script supplied by REDCap prior to splitting the data.
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- **Do NOT** export from the web interface with the *CSV / Microsoft Excel (labels)* option.
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This will not work with REDCapRITS.
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1. Call the function, pointing it to your record dataset and metadata
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`data.frame`s or JSON character vectors. You may need to load the package via
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`library()` or `require()`.
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#### Examples
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Here is an example usage in conjuction with an API call to your REDCap instance:
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```r
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library(RCurl)
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# Get the records
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records <- postForm(
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uri = api_url, # Supply your site-specific URI
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token = api_token, # Supply your own API token
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content = 'record',
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format = 'json',
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returnFormat = 'json'
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)
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# Get the metadata
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metadata <- postForm(
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uri = api_url, # Supply your site-specific URI
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token = api_token, # Supply your own API token
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content = 'metadata',
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format = 'json'
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)
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# Convert exported JSON strings into a list of data.frames
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REDCapRITS::REDCap_split(records, metadata)
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```
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And here is an example of usage when downloading a REDCap export of the raw data (not labelled!) manually from your REDCap web interface:
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```r
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# Get the records
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records <- read.csv("/path/to/data/ExampleProject_DATA_2018-06-03_1700.csv")
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# Get the metadata
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metadata <- read.csv("/path/to/data/ExampleProject_DataDictionary_2018-06-03.csv")
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# Split the tables
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REDCapRITS::REDCap_split(records, metadata)
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```
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REDCapRITS also works with the data export script (a.k.a., *syntax file*) supplied by REDCap. Here is an example of its usage:
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```r
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# Run the data export script supplied by REDCap.
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# This will create a data.frame of your records called 'data'
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source("/path/to/data/ExampleProject_R_2018-06-03_1700.r", chdir = TRUE)
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# Get the metadata
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metadata <- read.csv("/path/to/metadata/ExampleProject_DataDictionary_2018-06-03.csv")
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# Split the tables
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REDCapRITS::REDCap_split(data, metadata)
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```
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### SAS
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1. Download the data, SAS code to load the data, and the data dictionary from REDCap.
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1. Run the SAS code provided by REDCap to import the data.
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1. Run the RECapRITS macro definitions in the source editor or using `%include`.
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1. Run the macro call `%REDCAP_READ_DATA_DICT()` to load the data dictionary into your SAS session, pointing to the file location of your REDCap data dictionary.
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1. Run the macro call `%REDCAP_SPLIT()`. You will have an output dataset for
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your main table as well as for each repeating instrument.
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#### Examples
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Please follow the instructions from REDCap on importing the data into SAS. REDCap provides the data in a *csv* format as well as *bat* and *sas* files. The instructions are available when exporting the data from the REDCap web interface. If you do not use the pathway mapper (*bat* file) provided, you will need to go into the *sas* file provided by REDCap and alter the file path in the `infile` statment (Line 2).
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```sas
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* Run the program to import the data file into a SAS dataset;
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%INCLUDE "c:\path\to\data\ExampleProject_SAS_2018-06-04_0950.sas";
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* Run the MACRO definitions from this repo;
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%INCLUDE "c:\path\to\macro\REDCap_split.sas";
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* Read in the data dictionary;
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%REDCAP_READ_DATA_DICT(c:\path\to\data\ExampleProject_DataDictionary_2018-06-04.csv);
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* Split the tables;
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%REDCAP_SPLIT();
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```
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## Issues
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Suggestions and contributions are more than welcome! Please feel free to create an issue or pull request.
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## About REDCap
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This code was written for [REDCap electronic data capture tools](https://projectredcap.org/) [2]. Code for this project was tested on the REDCap instance hosted at Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI. REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure, web-based application designed to support data capture for research studies, providing 1) an intuitive interface for validated data entry; 2) audit trails for tracking data manipulation and export procedures; 3) automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to common statistical packages; and 4) procedures for importing data from external sources.
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## References
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[1] Henderson and Velleman (1981), Building multiple regression models interactively. *Biometrics*, **37**, 391--411.
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**Modified with fake data for the purpose of illustration**
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[2] Paul A. Harris, Robert Taylor, Robert Thielke, Jonathon Payne, Nathaniel Gonzalez, Jose G. Conde, Research electronic data capture (REDCap) – A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support, J Biomed Inform. 2009 Apr;42(2):377-81.
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