How can we accurately determine when medications were administered in MIMIC-IV

[xiangxiang121]

I am conducting an exploration of medication usage in MIMIC-IV v3.1. While collecting data, I noticed that the pharmacy and prescriptions tables do not provide clear information on when medications were actually administered. To address this, I cross-referenced the EMAR table, but I found that even for patients present in the EMAR table, medication records are incomplete.

For example, I examined the medication records for a patient with hadm_id = '28166872'. This patient underwent 'Endovascular (total) embolization or occlusion of head and neck vessels' on 2201-11-08 and 2201-11-04. However, I could not find any records of anesthetic medications administered on these dates in the prescriptions, pharmacy, or EMAR tables. Interestingly, I did find records of anesthetic medications in the inputevents table.

SO, how can we accurately determine when medications were administered in MIMIC-IV?

[fja-relouw]

@xiangxiang121 We’ve encountered a similar challenge while analyzing antibiotic usage and are working through it as well. We’ve had some conversations with the authors involved, and we’re considering putting together a set of best practices and preprocessing recommendations for working with eMAR data. This could be really helpful for others in the community who might face similar issues now or in the future. Is there any way we can connect and discuss further? I’d love to collaborate and share insights!