subsetting a dataset based on same conditions on a numbered list variables

[Viveme789]

Hi all!

I have a dataset at hand that looks like the following:

ID   MED1     MED2    MED3   MED4

1       892        384 .     454       345

2       802        394 .     434       233

3       852        384 .     334       599

I want to subset the dataset so that only patients with meds in {892, 334, 599, 384} remains. I don't want to repeat the list of 4 codes in all 4 variables in the data step. Can anyone show me how to do it? Thanks. 

[Reeza]

Please don't post the same question multiple times. 

Are all your values numeric as in your example or are they character values?

[Viveme789]

all numeric

[Reeza · Accepted solution]

There are two approaches that work, there may be an easier one but IN didn't seem to work for me for two lists.

1. Create two arrays, loop through searching for a value, if found, output and exit the loop.

The second approach transposes the data to a long format - much easier to use/query in the long run 🙂

Then you can either keep it long or you could use that list to generate back the same answer as the first method.

[Viveme789]

Thank you so much! That's an nice answer. 

[novinosrin]

@Viveme789 Requesting you to please mark the question as answered and close the thread. Thank you!