There is a way to do this, using CMD as was documented in EpiInfo. This has not yet been documented for Epidata, but it works.

I have attached two sample PGM files that you can adapt. I don't have a good test file this at hand. These short files will show you the principles behind CMD and how to use GLOBAL variables the /q (quiet) option and the TYPE command to do what you are asking.

MultiFreq.pgm uses plain text output MultiFreqHTML.pgm uses simple HTML to format the output into a table

This kind of pgm was common in EpiInfo v6, but takes a reasonable understanding of programming concepts. The great thing is that you can do this once and adapt it for many uses. You could also do with without the CMD parts by hard coding the quiet determination of numerators and %s for each symptom as in the third pgm (MultiFreqBruteForce.pgm) (I haven't tested that one)

Jamie

Christine wrote:

In our outbreak reports we want tables that show the count and percent of sick people with a range of symptoms - for example (say with 20 people ill)

diarrhoea 20 100% Vomiting 10 50% Fever 5 25%

At the moment I create a frequency table for each symptom and then cut and paste them into one summary table. I would like to know if there is a quick way to create just one symptoms table

set echo=off ** Produce a table of frequencies of symptoms reported ************************************************** ** Example of creating symptom table in EpiData ** ** Must be adapted to your data set ** ** Programming: Jamie Hockin ** ** November 2007 Analysis V2 ** ** Change lines with //* comments at the end ** ************************************************** define avar ____________ global define acount <Y> global //* change <Y> to match variable type

select ill = TRUE //* select only cases, if necessary avar = "ill" //* change "ill" to match case variable, or any other that will provide denominator denom

acount = "Y" //* change to match type and code for symptom="yes" avar = "vomit" //* change "vomit" to match first symptom variable name afreq avar = "cramps" //* etc afreq avar = "diarrhea" //* afreq

type "</table>" select set echo=on

** Two short commands that do the work ** cmd denom // denom counts the denominator type "<table>" type "<tr><td>Variable</td><td>Freq</td><td>%</td></tr>" // and prints the header define adenom ###### global // adenom holds denominator define adiv2 ###### global // adiv2 holds denominator/2 for rounding %s define apct ### global // apct will be the calculated % freq @avar /q adenom = $total1 // and save it here adiv2 = adenom div 2 end

cmd afreq // afreq calculates one frequency and % freq @avar /q if @avar="@acount" // frequency of a symptom, where value is acount (i.e. "yes") apct = (100*$total1 + adiv2) div adenom // round off percent (could have apct as ###.## and get decimals) type "<tr><td>@avar</td><td>@$total1</td><td>@apct%</td></tr>" // print the line end

** Produce a table of frequencies of symptoms reported ************************************************** ** Example of creating symptom table in EpiData ** ** Must be adapted to your data set ** ** Programming: Jamie Hockin ** ** November 2007 Analysis V2 ** ** Change lines with //* comments at the end ** ************************************************** set echo=off define avar ____________ global define acount <Y> global //* change <Y> to match variable type

select ill = TRUE //* select only cases, if necessary avar = "ill" //* change "ill" to match case variable, or any other that will provide denominator denom

acount = "Y" //* change to match type and code for symptom="yes" avar = "vomit" //* change "vomit" to match first symptom variable name afreq avar = "cramps" //* etc afreq avar = "diarrhea" //* afreq select

** Two short commands that do the work ** cmd denom // denom counts the denominator type "Variable Freq %" // and prints the header define adenom ###### global // adenom holds denominator define adiv2 ###### global // adiv2 holds denominator/2 for rounding %s define apct ### global // apct will be the calculated % freq @avar /q adenom = $total1 // and save it here adiv2 = adenom div 2 end

cmd afreq // afreq calculates one frequency and % freq @avar /q if @avar="@acount" // frequency of a symptom, where value is acount (i.e. "yes") apct = (100*$total1 + adiv2) div adenom // round off percent (could have apct as ###.## and get decimals) type "@avar @$total1 @apct%" // print the line end

** Produce a table of frequencies of symptoms reported ************************************************** ** Example of creating symptom table in EpiData ** ** Must be adapted to your data set ** ** Programming: Jamie Hockin ** ** November 2007 Analysis V2 ** ************************************************** set echo=off define adenom ###### global // adenom holds denominator define adiv2 ###### global // adiv2 holds denominator/2 for rounding %s define apct ### global // apct will be the calculated %

select ill = TRUE //* select only cases, if necessary freq ill /q adenom = $total1 adiv2 = adenom div 2 type "Variable N %" freq vomit /q if vomit // if <Y> variable apct = (100*$total1 + adiv2) div adenom type "vomit @$total1 @apct%" freq cramps /q if cramps // if <Y> variable apct = (100*$total1 + adiv2) div adenom type "cramps @$total1 @apct%" freq diarrhea /q if diarrhea // if <Y> variable apct = (100*$total1 + adiv2) div adenom type "diarrhea @$total1 @apct%"