Background: The pharmacokinetics of many drugs are said to be predictable. This is often used to imply the ease of dosing or dose-adjustments. However, predictability requires both accuracy (lack of bias) and precision (reproducibility). In the context of pharmacokinetics, precision refers to the ability to achieve a specified target concentration in different individuals. Precision is […]
2015
Characterising the transmission dynamics of Acinetobacter baumannii in intensive care units using hidden Markov models
Background: Little is known about the transmission dynamics of Acinetobacter baumannii in hospitals. In the absence of comprehensive epidemiological data, mathematical modelling is an attractive approach to understanding transmission process. The statistical challenge in estimating transmission parameters from infection data arises from the fact that most patients are colonised asymptomatically and therefore the transmission process […]
Model-based estimation of anticholinergic burden
Background: Older people exposed to medicines with anticholinergic properties are at an increased risk of experiencing adverse events. Anticholinergic burden refers to exposure to 1 or more medicines with anticholinergic activity. Studies have reported anticholinergic burden to be a strong predictor of cognitive and physical impairment in older people1. Background work in this area has […]