Webpage created 4/22/2026; verified for accessibility 4/22/26; last updated 4/22/2026
Non-compliance with prescribed drug regimens is a major health literacy issue that affects the quality of life and health of the nation as well as national healthcare costs. For example, poor compliance is considered an important, if not the most significant, contributing factor in the rejection of transplanted organs. Depending on the definition of non-compliance, it can range from 33% to more than 50%.
This free public health simulation, originally funded by the Thomas H. Maren Foundation, is provided as a community service. It addresses the important issue of health literacy and patient education. Through a web-enabled intuitive and user-friendly interface, it explores if visualization of the effects of non-compliance can assist in promoting improved drug compliance. We also contemplate its use by physicians and healthcare personnel to educate patients.
How To Use the Simulation
Click and drag the pills on the timeline to remove or modify a dose to simulate non-compliance and observe the subsequent effects on the drug concentration in the central and peripheral compartments. To add pills to the timeline, click and drag pills from the pill box. To simulate the pharmacokinetic parameters of a given drug, use the slider bars to adjust bioavailability, Ka, V1, Kel, K12, and k21. The dose interval can be selected (4, 6, 8, 12, 24 hours) and the time scale of the plot can be either 2 or 7 days. The amount of drug represented by each pill (default 150 mg) can be adjusted via its slider bar. Two thresholds (the lower one for minimum therapeutic concentration and the upper one for toxic levels) can be set by clicking and dragging on the arrowheads to the left of the vertical Y axis. The Y-axis autoscale feature can be toggled off and the Y scale manually adjusted, if desired.
We recommend the Google Chrome web browser to use the interactive model of medication dosing and compliance.
How To Reference the Simulation
To reference this educational web simulation according to theĀ APA style for web references, use:
Lampotang S, Lizdas DE, Mesber S, Gravenstein N (2006): Medication Dosing and Compliance: Interactive Model. Retrieved <insert date of retrieval here>, from University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology Virtual web site: https://simulation.health.ufl.edu/education-training/online-simulations/medication-dosing-and-compliance