Попробуйте ниже:
# example data
df1 <- data.frame(
issue_d1 = c("Dec,2011","Nov,2014","Apr,2015"),
issue_d2 = c("Nov,2015","Sep,2017","Apr,2018"))
library(zoo)
df1$Months <-
(as.yearmon(df1$issue_d2, "%b,%Y") -
as.yearmon(df1$issue_d1, "%b,%Y")) * 12
df1
# issue_d1 issue_d2 Months
# 1 Dec,2011 Nov,2015 47
# 2 Nov,2014 Sep,2017 34
# 3 Apr,2015 Apr,2018 36