Publications by authors named "Carolina Ibar"
Background: Over recent decades, chronic stress at an early age has become a worrying health problem in children. We seek to evaluate an intervention involving mindfulness-based practices and prosocial activities in 7- to 8-year-old children.
Methods: Stress levels were determined using hair cortisol concentration (HCC), and social integration was measured by means of a sociogram.
Unlabelled: In the critical context of COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are on the front line, participating directly in the care, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with COVID-19. This exposes them to a higher risk of developing chronic stress, psychological distress, and any other mental health symptoms.
Objective: to evaluate stress and burnout in a health workers population and, in addition, to measure hair cortisol concentration as a current biomarker of stress.
Article Synopsis
- A new automated method has been developed for measuring cortisol levels in hair samples, marking the first procedure of its kind.
- The study analyzed hair samples from 286 individuals, establishing normal cortisol reference values based on data from 213 low-stress individuals, which averaged at 55 pg/mg.
- Stressed individuals had significantly higher hair cortisol levels, with a median of 250 pg/mg, but hair dye did not impact cortisol measurements, indicating the method's strong analytical performance.