ReviewSports medicine - open2017
Exercise and the Cortisol Awakening Response: A Systematic Review.
Review in Sports medicine - open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Associations of physical activity during pregnancy with antenatal and postpartum depression: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Pooled it
- Digital music and movement intervention to improve health and wellbeing in older adults in care homes: a pilot mixed methods study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Trial
- Detrimental effects of prior self-control exertion on subsequent sporting skill performance.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2021Trial
- Object-Control Skills and Cortisol Response During Physical Education Lessons in Primary School Children.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- Anticipatory Cortisol Regulation During Competition in Elite Female Field Hockey Players.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2026Article
- Sleep Hygiene Improves Aerobic and Anaerobic Performance Independent of Cortisol Mediation in Female Collegiate Soccer Players.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Article
- From lab to field: progress and prospect of sweat sensing technology in sports monitoring.Mikrochimica acta · 2026Review
- The gut-brain axis and anxiety: investigating associations with diet, vigorous activity, and prior adversity.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive stimulation and physiological dynamization on sleep inertia.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Changes in Cortisol Awakening Response During 10 Days of High-Intensity Cycling Exercise.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Optimal Exercise Modality and Dose for Cortisol Reduction in Psychological Distress: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Positive day-to-day relationships between the cortisol and testosterone awakening responses in elite male athletes.Biology of sport · 2025Article
- Dose-response relationship between physical activity and visceral fat mass: a cross-sectional study based on NHANES 2011-2018.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Effects of Weight-Cutting Practices on Sleep, Recovery, and Injury in Combat Sports: A Scoping Review.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Review
- Effects of electronic smoking on daytime plasma cortisol levels and the possible ameliorating role of physical activity: a cross-sectional study.Journal of Yeungnam medical science · 2025Article
- Awakening not associated with an increased rate of cortisol secretion.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Blunted anticipatory stress responses on competition day in team sports athletes compared to individual sports athletes.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- The influence of light and heavy training weeks on the cortisol and testosterone awakening responses of elite male judokas: is skeletal muscle damage a mediating factor?Biology of sport · 2024Article
- Concentration levels of selected hormones in judokas and the extent of their changes during a special performance test at different ambient temperatures.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2023Article
- Neurobiological effects of exercise intervention for premenstrual syndrome.Cognitive neurodynamics · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe cortisol awakening response (CAR) has been used as a biomarker of stress response in a multitude of psychological investigations. While a myriad of biochemical responses have been proposed to monitor responses to exercise training, the use of CAR within the exercise and sports sciences is currently limited and is a potentially underutilized variable. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to collate studies that incorporate both exercise and CAR, in an effort to better understand (a) whether CAR is a useful marker for monitoring exercise stress and (b) how CAR may be most appropriately used in future research.
methodsA systematic review of the literature was conducted, following PRISMA guidelines. Searches were conducted using PubMed, SportDISCUS, Scopus, and PsychInfo databases, using search terms related toCAR and exercise and physical activity.
results10,292 articles were identified in the initial search, with 32 studies included in the final analysis. No studies investigated the effects of laboratory-controlled exercise on CAR. Variable effects were observed, possibly due to inconsistencies in study design, methodology, population, and CAR analysis. The available literature suggests a threshold of exercise may be required to alter the HPA axis and affect CAR. Moreover, CAR may represent a combination of previous exercise load and upcoming stress, making current interpretation of field-based observational research challenging.
conclusionsMore research is needed to fully elucidate the influence of exercise on CAR and address a number of gaps in the literature, including controlling exercise load, consistent sample collection, and CAR calculation and analysis.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.