As seen in the Usage example, growthcleanr creates a vector of flags identifying which measurements should be included or excluded, and why. This vector can be added to the original dataset for further review. The flags growthcleanr sets are text labels, most of which are descriptive. The text does not always map directly back to the precise step in the algorithm.

Exclusions generated by pediatric algorithm

For convenience, the following table maps which algorithm steps in the pediatric algorithm, as defined by Supplemental File 3 within the Supplementary Material of the Daymont et al. paper, define exclusions in the algorithm by the exclusion identifier also prescribed in the algorithm (“algorithm exc id”). The exclusion type column identifies the text of the exclusion flag set by growthcleanr. The notes column at right identifies minor discrepancies between the algorithm’s step labels and labels used in comment text in growthcleanr.

algorithm step algorithm exc id exclusion type notes
2d 0 Include -
2d 1 Missing -
5b 2 Exclude-Temporary-Extraneous-Same-Day -
7d - Swapped-Measurements -
8f - Unit-Error-High -
8f - Unit-Error-Low -
8f - Unit-Error-Possible Not set in R code
9c 3 Exclude-Carried-Forward -
10c 4 Exclude-SD-Cutoff 10d, 10e
11d 5 Exclude-EWMA-Extreme 11e
11f.ii 6 Exclude-EWMA-Extreme-Pair 11i (R only)
12d.i 7 Exclude-Extraneous-Same-Day 12diii, 12ei, 12f
14f.i 8 Exclude-EWMA-8 Set in 14h (in R)
14f.ii 9 Exclude-EWMA-9 Set in 14h (in R)
14f.iii 10 Exclude-EWMA-10 Set in 14h (in R)
14f.iv 11 Exclude-EWMA-11 Set in 14h (in R)
14f.v 12 Exclude-EWMA-12 Set in 14h (in R)
14f.vi 13 Exclude-EWMA-13 Set in 14h (in R)
14f.vii 14 Exclude-EWMA-14 Set in 14h (in R)
15s 15 Exclude-Min-Height-Change Set in 15q (in R), 15s, 15t
15s 16 Exclude-Max-Height-Change Set in 15q (in R), 15s, 15t
16b 17 Exclude-Pair-Delta-17 -
16b 18 Exclude-Pair-Delta-18 -
- - Exclude-Pair-Delta-19 Added flag.both mode
16d 19 Exclude-Single-Outlier -
17a 20 Exclude-Too-Many-Errors -
17a 21 Exclude-Too-Many-Errors-Other-Parameter -

A researcher wanting to compare two datasets – for example, one including only measurements growthcleanr flags for inclusion, and a second which also includes carried forward values – could extract only measurements where the flag is set to “Include” for the first set and either “Include” or “Exclude-Carried-Forward” for the second set. This flexibility gives each researcher control over how to incorporate growthcleanr results into their own research.

Exclusions generated by adult algorithm

For the adult algorithm, the following exclusions apply. Note that a few types are described with similar exclusion names. To distinguish which of these exclusions were flagged using the adult algorithm, “-Adult-” has been inserted into each of these exclusion names.

While formal publication of the adult algorithm is in progress, a detailed narrative describing the algorithm is available at Adult algorithm.

algorithm step implementation step exclusion type notes
1h H BIV Exclude-Adult-BIV -
3h H temp extraneous - Nothing excluded in this step
5h H 100 metric Exclude-Adult-Hundreds -
6h H unit errors Exclude-Adult-Unit-Errors -
7h H transpositions Exclude-Adult-Transpositions -
8 swaps Exclude-Adult-Swapped-Measurements -
9h H same day extraneous Exclude-Adult-Extraneous-Same-Day Multiple error codes depending on outcome
9h H same day extraneous Exclude-Adult-Identical-Same-Day Multiple error codes depending on outcome
10ha H distinct pairs Exclude-Adult-Distinct-Pairs -
10hb H distinct 3+ Exclude-Adult-Distinct-3-Or-More -
11h H mean heights - Nothing excluded in this step
13 distinct 1 Exclude-Adult-Distinct-Single -
14h H error load Exclude-Adult-Too-Many-Errors -
1w W BIV Exclude-Adult-BIV -
2w W repeated values - Nothing excluded in this step
3w W temp extraneous - Nothing excluded in this step
4w W weight cap Exclude-Adult-Weight-Cap -
4w W weight cap Exclude-Adult-Weight-Cap-Identical -
5w W hundreds Exclude-Adult-Hundreds -
6w W unit errors Exclude-Adult-Unit-Errors -
7w W transpositions Exclude-Adult-Transpositions -
9w W extreme EWMA Exclude-Adult-EWMA-Extreme -
10w W same day extraneous Exclude-Adult-Extraneous-Same-Day Multiple error codes depending on outcome
10w W same day extraneous Exclude-Adult-Identical-Same-Day Multiple error codes depending on outcome
11wa W distinct ordered pairs Exclude-Adult-Distinct-Ordered-Pairs -
11wb W moderate EWMA Exclude-Adult-EWMA-Moderate -
12w W weight cap influence Exclude-Adult-Possibly-Impacted-By-Weight-Cap -
14w W error load Exclude-Adult-Too-Many-Errors -
Most weight steps W repeated value exclusion paste(proposed, "-RV") When a first repeated value is excluded, all other repeated values are excluded