Currently in the query tool, users are able to add a date constraint to a panel that contains age concept(s). When a date constraint is defined, the query will use the START_DATE in the OBSERVATION_FACT table. Ages that are stored in the PATIENT_DIMENSION will not have a START_DATE and therefore the date constraint is not valid.

General i2b2 users do not know whether or not an age has a start date and if they select a date constraint their query may not return the expected results. This becomes a bigger issue when you are using the i2b2 in a larger network in which some sites may store it in the PATIENT_DIMENSION and others in the OBSERVATION_FACT. This scenario will definitely result in misleading results and the user will be unaware of the discrepancy.

SOLUTION:
The solution is to disable the ability to add a Date Constraint to a panel if one of the concepts in the panel is an age concept.

We also need to evaluate whether or not this should be extended to all demographic data that may be stored in the PATIENT_DIMENSION table instead of the OBSERVATION_FACT table.