Quantitative Variable Distributions: Multi Site, Exploratory, Cross-Sectional Analysis


Created

2025-07-30

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Domain

Category

Parameters

Publisher

PEDSnet

Abstract

This check provides raw data and visualizations to aid a user in evaluating whether the distribution of quantitative variables aligns with clinical expectations. It can summarize the distribution of a quantitative variable (like lab result values) or patient counts (like number of patients with an outpatient visit).

Data Requirements

cohort , qvd_value_file , omop_or_pcornet , multi_or_single_site , anomaly_or_exploratory , age_groups

Probe

Clinical Assessment

Access Package

# install.packages("devtools") devtools::install_github('ssdqa/https://github.com/ssdqa/quantvariabledistribution')

Visualization Output

This check outputs boxplots displaying the distribution of each value type at each site. The diamond reflects the mean value of the distribution. The user can control whether outliers are displayed or not, and they can set a minimum frequency with which a value should occur to be included in the plot. In the example plot, outliers are displayed and a minimum frequency of 5 occurrences is used.

Raw Output

This check produces a raw data output containing 10 columns:

Column Data Type Definition
site character the name of the site being targeted OR “combined” if multiple sites were provided
value_col numeric the quantitative value of the variable of interest
value_freq numeric the frequency with which the quantitative value occurs
value_type character the type of value being measured
mean_val numeric the mean of value_col
median_val numeric the median of value_col
sd_val numeric the standard deviation of value_col
q1_val numeric the first quantile of value_col
q3_val numeric the third quantile of value_col
output_function character a string indicating the type of visualization that should be generated by qvd_output

Affiliation(s)

PEDSnet Data Coordinating Center

Funder(s)

This research was made possible through the generous support of Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The statements presented in this work are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of PCORI, its Board of Governors, or its Methodology Committee.

Provenance

Description

Development Code

https://github.com/ssdqa/quantvariabledistribution

Clinical Subjects Headings

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##### [View pkgdown summary here.](https://ssdqa.github.io/squba/)

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Creative Commons license

a CC-BY Attribution 4.0 License.
Except where otherwised noted, this item's license is described as a CC-BY Attribution 4.0 License.

Cite this Data Quality Check

PEDSnet Data Coordinating Center., Wieand, K., & Dickinson, K. (2025, July). Quantitative Variable Distributions: Multi Site, Exploratory, Cross-Sectional Analysis. [D Q Check]. PEDSpace Knowledge Bank. https://doi.org/10.24373/pdsp-472