Periodograms and pulse detection methods for pulsatile hormone data.
Pulse detection algorithms and spectral analysis are the two most common methods for analysing pulsatile hormone data. We compared a popular high quality pulse detection algorithm (CLUSTER) to spectral analysis on a data set comparing luteinizing hormone data in depressed and control women. For these data, periodogram analysis methods, in particular Fisher's periodicity test, were superior in distinguishing the groups. Extending the pulse detection method to include measures of intra-individual variability improved its discriminatory performance. The two methods complement each other.
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