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Long-term follow-up of cortisol awakening response in patients treated for stress-related exhaustion.


ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Studies on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in stress-related exhaustion and burnout have revealed incongruent results, and few longitudinal studies on clinical populations have been performed. This study was designed to investigate differences in HPA axis activity between patients with stress-related exhaustion and healthy controls and to investigate longitudinal changes in HPA axis activity in the patient group as they entered a multimodal treatment programme.

Design

HPA axis activity was assessed through the cortisol awakening response (CAR). Salivary cortisol was sampled at awakening and after 15 min. Follow-up measurements were performed in the patient group after 3, 6, 12 and 18 months.

Setting

An outpatient clinic specialising in stress-related illness.

Participants

Patients with clinically diagnosed stress-related exhaustion (n=162) and healthy controls (n=79).

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary measure was CAR measured as the difference between the two salivary cortisol samples. Changes in CAR during follow-up were related to changes in symptoms of burnout, depression and anxiety.

Results

Patients showed similar CAR as the controls and their CAR did not change significantly during treatment. No association was found between CAR and symptom development during treatment.

Conclusions

The authors conclude that CAR does not seem to discriminate clinically defined patients with exhaustion from healthy controls and it appears not to change during treatment. CAR, measured as salivary cortisol, at awakening and after 15 min, is thus not a valid marker for stress-related exhaustion.

SUBMITTER: Sjors A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3400075 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Long-term follow-up of cortisol awakening response in patients treated for stress-related exhaustion.

Sjörs Anna A   Ljung Thomas T   Jonsdottir Ingibjörg H IH  

BMJ open 20120710 4


<h4>Objectives</h4>Studies on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in stress-related exhaustion and burnout have revealed incongruent results, and few longitudinal studies on clinical populations have been performed. This study was designed to investigate differences in HPA axis activity between patients with stress-related exhaustion and healthy controls and to investigate longitudinal changes in HPA axis activity in the patient group as they entered a multimodal treatment program  ...[more]

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