Background: Stress is a non-specific response of the body to any demand. Professional education has a certain level of stress inherent in it. Dental students have been reported in the literature to experience more stress than medical students.
Objective: To evaluate the stress levels of dental students: first-year undergraduates, house surgeons, and final-year postgraduates, using salivary cortisol as a stress biomarker.
Materials And Methods: Dental students above 18 years of age and without any systemic illness were included in the study. Those students with a drug history of corticosteroids, anti-depressants, and oral contraceptives were excluded from the study. Female participants experiencing pre-menstrual symptoms, pregnancy, and familial stressor issues were excluded from the study. First-year undergraduates, house surgeons, and final-year postgraduates were enrolled in the study. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected in the morning and evening between 9:00 and 10:00 am and between 3:00 and 4:00 pm. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed by chemiluminescence immuno-assay (CLIA).
Results: Paired sample t-test was used to compare the diurnal variation among morning and afternoon samples within the groups. The salivary cortisol levels were found to be significant within the groups. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the salivary cortisol levels between the groups. The salivary cortisol levels within the groups were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Salivary cortisol is a non-invasive biomarker of stress. Postgraduates had higher salivary cortisol levels than other study groups.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/ijdr.ijdr_498_21 | DOI Listing |
J Holist Nurs
January 2025
Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA.
The purpose of this research was to examine the holistic effects of combined complementary therapies in reducing stress in college students. This convergent mixed-method study provided aromatherapy, massage, and meditation music sessions to college students ( = 50) just before finals week. Paired t-tests analyzed pre-session and post-session perceived stress and anxiety as well as objective physiological measures, including salivary cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComplement Ther Clin Pract
January 2025
Department of Comparative Medicine, The Interuniversity Messerli Research Institute of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna and University Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, Vienna, 1210, Austria; Karl Landsteiner Research Institute for Neurochemistry, Neuropharmacology, Neurorehabilitation and Pain Treatment, Hausmeninger Straße 221, Mauer, 3362, Austria. Electronic address:
Background: This exploratory study aimed to analyse physiological interaction processes in equine-assisted-therapy (EAT) between client, therapy horse and therapist.
Methods: We measured heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV) and cortisol levels before, during and after a standardized therapy session and a control condition in one therapist, four therapy horses and ten female clients in emerging adulthood (Mn = 21.8 years, SD = 3.
Psychoneuroendocrinology
January 2025
Institute of Psychosocial Medicine, Psychotherapy and Psychooncology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany; German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Halle-Jena, Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Intervention and Research in adaptive and maladaptive brain Circuits underlying mental health (C-I-R-C), Halle-Jena, Magdeburg, Germany.
Empathic stress is the reproduction of psychological and physiological stress activation in an observer of a directly stressed target individual. It likely allows us to allocate the energy necessary to jointly alleviate a stressor at hand. The tendency to show such an empathic or "second-hand" stress response depends on the relationship between target and observer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychoneuroendocrinology
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom. Electronic address:
In a variety of settings, cortisol and testosterone are positively "coupled." That is, within-person fluctuations of these hormones occur in parallel, with increases and decreases in one hormone corresponding to increases and decreases in the other. A dataset comprised of salivary cortisol and testosterone levels from varsity women athletes from six different Emory University sports teams (volleyball 2002, 2005, and 2008; softball 2004; tennis 2009; soccer 2013) was used to explore the relationship between coupling and hormone reactivity to athletic competition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal
December 2024
Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy. Electronic address:
Domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) raised under natural conditions can show their complete behavioural repertoire. However, rooting behaviour can have a great impact on the environment. In the context of the promotion of farm animal welfare and environmental concerns, this study investigated the potential of nose-clips as a less invasive alternative to nose-rings for the management of rooting behaviour of free-ranging pigs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!