ANZIAM  J.  48 (2007), 583-596

Patient-dependent effects in disease control: a mathematical model

Jean M. Tchuenche   Department of Mathematics   University of Dar es Salaam   P.O. Box 35062   Dar es Salaam   Tanzania     jmt_biomaths@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract

The state of a patient is an important concept in biomedical sciences. While analytical methods for predicting and exploring treatment strategies of disease dynamics have proven to have useful applications in public health policy and planning, the state of a patient has attracted less attention, at least mathematically. As a result, models constructed in relation to treatment strategies may not be very informative. We derive a patient-dependent parameter from an age-physiology dependent population model, and show that a single treatment strategy is not always optimal. Also, we derive a function which increases with the patient dependence parameter and describes the effort expended to be in good health.

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