SynthesisScientific reports2019
A systematic review of studies utilizing hair glucocorticoids as a measure of stress suggests the marker is more appropriate for quantifying short-term stressors.
Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
57 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chronic stress in relation to clinical burnout: an integrative scoping review of definitions and measurement approaches.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Hair Cortisol Research in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - 10 Years of Insights and Open Questions. A Systematic Review.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- A Remote Time-Restricted Eating and Mindfulness Intervention Addressing Risk Factors Associated with Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Demonstrates Feasibility and Acceptability among Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.Nutrition and cancer · 2025Trial
- Men of Color Health Awareness intervention: changes in adrenocortical activity assessed using fingernail cortisol.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- The effect of a mindfulness-based therapy on different biomarkers among patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a randomised controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Chromogranin A and S100A12 protein measurement in hair of pigs: assay validation, changes across different production stages and comparison with other hair biomarkers.Veterinary research communications · 2026Article
- Hair cortisol concentrations as marker of chronic stress in wild roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).Veterinary research communications · 2026Article
- Hair stress hormones in individuals with a recent suicide attempt experiencing a depressive episode.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- The multifaceted role of hair as a biospecimen: recent advances in precision medicine and forensic science.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2025Review
- Feasibility of Measuring Hair Glucocorticoids as a Potential Biomarker for Chronic Stress in Older Adults With Intellectual Disabilities.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2025Article
- Fecal Cortisol Metabolites Indicate Increased Stress Levels in Horses During Breaking-In: A Pilot Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Using Machine Learning to Identify Predictors of Maternal and Infant Hair Cortisol Concentration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
- Surrogate analyte approach for the determination of endogenous cortisol, cortisone, DHEA, DHEAS in horse hair and sheep wool by LC-HRMS/MS.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Temperature-Related Differences in Hair Cortisol Among Outdoor-Housed Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta).American journal of primatology · 2025Article
- Infant development at 14 months in the context of maternal objective and subjective birth experience and infant hair glucocorticoids.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Faecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites and Hair Cortisone/Cortisol Measurements in Domestic Pigs Exposed to Road Transportation and Dexamethasone Treatment.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Validating a Non-Invasive Method for Assessing Cortisol Concentrations in Scraped Epidermal Skin from Common Bottlenose Dolphins and Belugas.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Hair hormone data from Syrian refugee children: Perspectives from a two-year longitudinal study.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Review
- The Levels of Cortisol and Selected Biochemical Parameters in Red Deer Harvested during Stalking Hunts.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- A late-life neurogenetic signature of exposure to combat stress - A monozygotic discordant twin study.Journal of psychiatric research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Quantitating glucocorticoids (GCs) in hairs is a popular method for assessing chronic stress in studies of humans and animals alike. The cause-and-effect relationship between stress and elevated GC levels in hairs, sampled weeks later, is however hard to prove. This systematic review evaluated the evidence supporting hair glucocorticoids (hGCs) as a biomarker of stress. Only a relatively small number of controlled studies employing hGC analyses have been published, and the quality of the evidence is compromised by unchecked sources of bias. Subjects exposed to stress mostly demonstrate elevated levels of hGCs, and these concentrations correlate significantly with GC concentrations in serum, saliva and feces. This supports hGCs as a biomarker of stress, but the dataset provided no evidence that hGCs are a marker of stress outside of the immediate past. Only in cases where the stressor persisted at the time of hair sampling could a clear link between stress and hGCs be established.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.