Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 3, 2025

A Web Tool for Generating High Quality Machine-readable Biological Pathways
Published on: February 8, 2017
Graphical methods for understanding changes in states: Understanding medication use pathways
Elizabeth A Wise1, Roy J Adams1, Constantine G Lyketsos1
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bayview and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Objectives:
As epidemiological studies become longer and larger, the field needs novel graphical methods to visualize complex longitudinal data. The aim of this study was to present the Slinkyplot, a longitudinal crosstabulation, to illustrate patterns of antidepressant use in a large prospective cohort of older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
Methods:
Data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center are used to track switches between different states and types of antidepressant use. A Slinkyplot is populated with rows representing the state of medication use at each timepoint and columns representing the state at each subsequent visit.
Results:
The constructed Slinkyplots display the common practice of switching on and off different antidepressants over time, with citalopram, sertraline, and bupropion most commonly used followed by switching to another SSRI or SNRI as second-line treatment.
Conclusions:
Slinkyplots are an innovative graphical means of visualizing complex patterns of transitions between different states over time for large longitudinal studies.
Related Concept Videos
Fundamental Mathematical Principles in Pharmacokinetics: Calculus and Graphs
On the other hand, integral calculus focuses on...
Methods of Documentation VI: Case Management Model
For example, a patient with a chronic...
Drug Administration and Therapy Phases: Overview
The pharmaceutical phase focuses on leveraging the physicochemical properties of the drug to design and manufacture an effective product. Variants include orally administered tablets or capsules, topical creams or ointments, and parenteral-delivery solutions or emulsions.
The pharmacokinetic phase...
Pharmacokinetic Models: Overview
There are three primary types of models: empirical, compartment, and physiological. Empirical models, with minimal...
Mechanistic Models: Overview of Compartment Models
Model Approaches for Pharmacokinetic Data: Compartment Models
Two primary types of compartment models are recognized: mammillary and catenary. The more...

