Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 45, Issue 5 823-829, Copyright © 1978 by American Physiological Society
Estimation of response slopes in respiratory control using directional statistics
J. A. Daubenspeck and R. D. Ogden
The ventilatory sensitivity to alveolar PCO2 and slope of the straight line
relating VE to VT are two examples of response slopes of interest in
respiratory control. Statistical techniques have not been available to
analyze repeated direct estimations of these slopes by paired consideration
of initial and final responses to a stimulus. Rather, existing statistical
techniques sacrifice much information by describing the response slope as
that of the line which, in some sense, best fits the unpaired responses. We
have adapted techniques established for the statistical analysis of
directional data to analyze direct measurements of these physiological
response slopes and have found that the application of these directional
techniques can result in better estimation of the ventilatory sensitivity
to CO2, for example, than is provided using unpaired analysis techniques.
