This project uses toe and foot amputation data from CMS's inpatient and outpatient data. The goal of this project is to understand the trends in utilization of inpatient and outpatient toe and foot amputation services. The chart below shows general trends in amputation. As you can see, there appears to be a slight decrease in toe and foot amputations from 23 to 21 percent. I wanted to extend this previous chart for only the toe and foot amputations until 2016? and make predictions for the next 10 years for toe and foot amputations. I want to know if there was an change in the rate post 2011 as well.
To begin, individual datasets were downloaded from the hcupnet website. This is what I selected. Create New Analysis Table >> Inpatient/Descriptive Stats >> Choose Year >> Specific Diagnosis/Procedure-Yes >> Procedure Code Selection - Code 10
Once the individual datasets were downloaded, I checked the variable types in SAS 9.4. Then, I created a macro to merge all the datasets together. Rename variables if needed for the initial merge.
I checked for invalid character values and missing data. Then, I looked for out of range data. I checked for invalid numeric values and missing data. I checked to see if any data types need to be converted. Last, I checked the range for variables. I looked for duplicates and values that are repeating. I checked that dates are correctly formatted. Relabel variables as needed. I dropped any unimportant variables.
Since this is healthcare utilization data, I wanted to learn the spread of the variables of interest that will be used in the model. I have created histogram that ....
Also, I ran descriptive statistics for my variables of interest. Mean/Medium/Mode and n for variables of interest
The limitations of this analysis is that it only covers a portion of the population with Medicare. These results could help guide planning for toe and foot amputation services. Further research should be done to understand the differences between different racial and ethnic groups.
https://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/#setup
Goodney PP, Tarulli M, Faerber AE, Schanzer A, Zwolak RM. Fifteen-Year Trends in Lower Limb Amputation, Revascularization, and Preventive Measures Among Medicare Patients. JAMA Surg. 2015;150(1):84–86. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2014.1007
Diehr, P., Yanez, D., Ash, A., Hornbrook, M. and Lin, D.Y., 1999. Methods for analyzing health care utilization and costs. Annual review of public health, 20(1), pp.125-144.