Abstract
A maintenance dose designed to give a desired minimum concentration of drug in plasma at steady-state can be determined in a model-independent manner assuming that concentration-time data needed for the calculation are obtained after absorption and distribution are complete. Using a few concentration-time points obtained after the first dose, numerical values of β and Z, a parameter consisting of different pharmacokinetic parameters for different models, can be obtained. An administration interval (τ) can be chosen based on β. Using the values of β, Z, and τ, a maintenance dose is calculated. This approach will allow calculation of a maintenance dose when drug is present in plasma at the time the first monitored dose is given.

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