The timing of collected of observations is generally planned, but observations may also be collected outside of a planned schedule. Additionally, the actual timing of observations is collected. Guidance in this section describes the expected population of variables to represent planned. unplanned, and the actual timing of observations.
Actual Timing
In general observation class domains, the dates and times (when appliable) observations were collected are represented in variable --DTC. In interventions and events class domains, variable --STDTC is used to represent the start dates and times (when applicable) of interventions and events. In findings class domains, the collection date is often aligned with when the source of the finding was collected (e.g., a specimen for laboratory testing) and may not be aligned with when the finding for the observation was generated (e.g., the date the specimen was assayed, and results were generated). Given this, for consistency, variable --DTC is always used in findings domains to represent the start date/time of an observation and variable --STDTC is not used. Variable --ENDTC is used in all general observation class domains to represent the end date and time (when applicable) of the observation.
The length of time an observation continues, i.e., the duration of the observation, is represented using variables:
- --DTC or --STDTC for the start of the observation and --ENDTC for the end of the observation when date/times are collected.
- --DUR when only the duration of the observation is collected and, start and end dates have not been collected.
Overview
Content Tools