Re: Doing Summation on multiple criterias on the same column in a

On Mar 31, 2:28 pm, --CELKO-- wrote:
> The example of a medical questionnaire is very appropriate for me
> right now. I am getting a physical on 2008-04-01 and just had to fill
> a four-page basic intake questionnaire I got in the mail.
>
> 1)The pre-existing conditions are asked as yes/no questions for the
> intake form ("Do you have high cholesterol?") so that they can be
> measured on an appropriate scale later in the exam (LDL cholesterol,
> HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides)
> 2)The surgery list asks for the calendar year of the operations. Not
> just yes/no, not within a range of years past, but the actual calendar
> year. They want the fact, not a flag.
> 3)The family history also asks about the calendar years when family
> members were diagnosed for heart problems, cancer, etc. Not just yes/
> no, not within a range of years past, but the actual calendar year.
> They want the fact, not a flag.
> 4)The "life style" questions are also detailed and not just flags;
> they want measurements.
> 1.Do you use tobacco? What kind? (cigarettes, cigars, snuff, etc.)
> How much?
> 2.Do you drink alcohol? What kind (beer, wine, liquor, etc.) How many
> drinks per week?
> 3.Do you use caffeine? What kind? (coffee, tea, etc.) How many drinks
> per day?
> 4.How many sex partners do you have? What genders? Animals don't seem
> to count:)
> 5)Male and female conditions are clearly separated to avoid
> conflicting data entries. One of the problems with flags is that
> certain combinations might not be valid data -- "pregnant men" -- and
> you need elaborate CHECK() constraints to avoid bad data. But this is
> a Data Quality issue.
>
> This sort of form is for intake only; it is not meant to be a medical
> record.

The last attempt: this is not correct. In many cases your answers need
to be stored separately. An insurance companies may void a policy if
an answer is not correct. A resaercher may find it useful to match yes/
no answers against more detailed data. Once upon a time there was a
questionnaire which has the following question:
Do you have sex regularly?
In many cases "yes" meant "every month", and in many other cases "no"
meant "not every day".