Abstract:
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We consider a population pharmacokinetic study using a convenience sample of hospitalized patients that received multiple doses of intravenously administered antibiotics during routine care, and where the serum concentration of drug is measured using routine blood samples. Thus, the timing of drug administration and sampling are initially determined by clinical factors. However, the timing of these events can be modified with little cost or impact on patient care, for example, by making changes to personnel workflow or by lengthening the duration of intravenous infusion. Drug administration and sample timing data were collected in a modern hospital setting and are used to demonstrate the feasibility of this opportunistic study design. We further show that inexpensive modifications to personnel workflow that affect the timing of events can improve the study efficiency.
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