Helper function to add a time-to-event outcome from a date function

Creates three columns for an outcome defined by an event date and a censor date:

• prefix_CENSOR: event date if present, otherwise censor date

• prefix_BINARY: 1 if event date present, else 0

• prefix_unit: numeric time from start_date to prefix_CENSOR in chosen units

Usage

srtr_time_to_event(
  df,
  event_date,
  start_date,
  censor_date,
  prefix,
  units = c("years", "months", "days"),
  add_epsilon = 1,
  warn_negative = TRUE
)

Arguments

df

A data frame.

event_date

Event date column (unquoted).

start_date

Start date column (unquoted), e.g., REC_TX_DT.

censor_date

Censor/last-follow-up date column (unquoted), e.g., TFL_LAFUDATEPA.

prefix

String used for new columns (e.g., "REC_DEATH").

units

One of "years", "months", or "days". Default "years".

add_epsilon

Numeric days to add to time (to avoid zero-time issues). Default 1. Set to 0 to disable. Logical TRUE/FALSE also accepted (treated as 1/0) for backward compatibility.

warn_negative

Warn and set to NA if computed time is negative. Default TRUE.

Value

df with added columns: {prefix}_CENSOR, {prefix}_BINARY, {prefix}_{units-suffix}.

Details

Units suffix mapping: years -> "_yrs", months -> "_months", days -> "_days". Negative times (e.g., when start_date > censor/event) trigger a warning, and the numeric time is set to NA.#'