Apply a format such as shown to the variables.
Should work.
You do not need to "read them" as shown, though a custom INFORMAT would do that. One reason to stick with the values as current is suppose you see a "borderline" value issue and want to investigate if the model behaves differently with 10-14 and 15 to 24 instead of 10-15 and 16 to 24(are these actually integer values?).
A different FORMAT would allow you to do that new model by changing ONE word: the format associated with the variables. If you actually create text values you would have to go back to an earlier step, create new text values, change the name of the data set to the one with the new values. Wash , rinse. repeat.
Example that you should be able to run:
proc format;
value agea
10-14 = '10-14'
15-19 = '15-19'
;
value ageb
10-12= '10 to 12'
13-15= '13 to 15'
16-high= '16+'
;
run;
proc freq data=sashelp.class;
tables age;
format age agea.;
run;
proc freq data=sashelp.class;
tables age;
format age ageb.;
run;
The format could be used with Proc Logistic or Surveylogistic with CLASS variables to create the "categories".
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