ArticlePloS one2015
Low Levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate in Younger Burnout Patients.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biological Markers of Burnout Severity: A Systematic Review.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2026Pooled it
- Blood Metabolic Biomarkers of Occupational Stress in Healthcare Professionals: Discriminating Burnout Levels and the Impact of Night Shift Work.Clocks & sleep · 2025Article
- Urine Metabolomic Patterns to Discriminate the Burnout Levels and Night-Shift-Related Stress in Healthcare Professionals.Metabolites · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Burnout Syndrome in Medical Personnel.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Job demands and DHEA-S levels: a study on healthcare workers.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Hair dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate as biomarker of employees' well-being? A longitudinal investigation of support, resilience, and work engagement during COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Exhaustion disorder: scoping review of research on a recently introduced stress-related diagnosis.BJPsych open · 2022Article
- MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Endocrine and immunological aspects of burnout: a narrative review.European journal of endocrinology · 2019Review
- Does ovulation affect performance in tennis players?BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2018Article
- Dehydroepiandrosterone, Its Sulfate and Cognitive Functions.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2016Article
- Correction: Low Levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate in Younger Burnout Patients.PloS one · 2015Article
- Physiological biomarkers of chronic stress: A systematic review.International journal of health sciencesReview
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveDehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-s) is an anabolic protective hormone of importance for maintenance of health. DHEA-s levels peak in young adults and decline thereafter with age. DHEA-s has previously been shown to be lower in individuals reporting prolonged stress. This study investigates DHEA-s levels in patients with clinical burnout, a disorder caused by long-term psychosocial stress.
methods122 patients (51% men) and 47 controls (51% men) in the age 25-54 years were included in the study. DHEA-s levels were compared between patients and controls in the whole sample and within each of the three 10-year-interval age groups.
resultsIn the youngest age group (25-34 years), DHEA-s levels were on average 25% lower in the patients (p = 0.006). The differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls were more pronounced among female than male participants (on average 32% and 13% lower, respectively). There were no differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls in the age group 35-44 years (p = 0.927) or 45-54 years (p = 0.897) or when analyzing all age groups together (p = 0.187).
conclusionThe study indicates that levels of the health promoting "youth" hormone DHEA-s are low in younger burnout patients. The fact that younger adults have much higher DHEA-s levels and more pronounced inter-subject variability in DHEA-s levels than older individuals might explain why burnout status differentiates patients from controls only among the youngest patients included in this study.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.