"Unavailable" is a chrachter type field.
You need to create a new numeric variable using
data temp;
set have;
new_variable = input(old_variable, ?? best.);
run;
in this case the non numeric value will be assigned as missing value
and that is what you need for statistics and analyze.
Using this also converts the ranges to missing values so the values for eg say 10-20 ,20-30,... are even replaced with missings
Setting them to missing > removed from analysis. SAS will discard any record from analysis where any of the model variables are missing. If you don't assign them a "valid" category then you may as well use where clause to subset the data as they would be excluded anyway.
Or take a pass at imputing but I wouldn't go that route unless the number of "missing" or "unavailable" is large relative to the sample size. How large? depends on the actual data.
Are you ready for the spotlight? We're accepting content ideas for SAS Innovate 2025 to be held May 6-9 in Orlando, FL. The call is open until September 25. Read more here about why you should contribute and what is in it for you!
Learn how use the CAT functions in SAS to join values from multiple variables into a single value.
Find more tutorials on the SAS Users YouTube channel.