Synthesis of pharmacokinetic parameters of vancomycin via bootstrap methods

For the adjustment of individual vancomycin dosages, we estimate the important pharmacokinetic quantities half-life, clearance, and volume of distribution.

To obtain reliable information 293 observations from 244 patients were extracted from 23 published studies on vancomycin. Information about vancomycin's pharmacokinetics out of different sources represents an increase in sample size and, therefore, interpretive power.

Once the whole of the data had been stratified into a small number of homogeneous clusters based on cofactors, different (robust) estimators (mean, median, Winsorized, and trimmed mean) were calculated for the expected value of the pharmacokinetic parameters of vancomycin within the clusters. Measures of the statistical accuracy such as standard error, bias, mean square error, and confidence interval were estimated via bootstrap methods from large bootstrap sample sizes to compare the quality of the estimators.

Due to the homogenization of the data all individual estimator functions yield very similar results and the empirical mean works fairly well as an estimate. The most frequently used estimator with the smallest estimated mean square error was the Winsorized mean.