ArticleJournal of occupational health2021
The potential of using hair cortisol to measure chronic stress in occupational healthcare; a scoping review.
Article in Journal of occupational health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chronic stress in relation to clinical burnout: an integrative scoping review of definitions and measurement approaches.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Individual-level interventions for reducing occupational stress in healthcare workers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Burnout and Biological Biomarkers in Emergency and Acute-Care Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Scoping Review with Evidence Mapping.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Perceived stress precedes declines in Well-being: A prospective study of stress, well-being, hair cortisol, and low-grade inflammation in hospital employees.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Cortisol Concentration Is Reduced During the Workday but Is not Associated With Depressive Symptoms in Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Longitudinal associations between well-being, hair cortisol, and self-reported health.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Article
- Monitoring of mental health in occupational populations: a study on the role and application of HDL-related inflammatory index.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The impact of perinatal maternal stress on the maternal and infant gut and human milk microbiomes: A scoping review.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Hair cortisol concentrations are associated with greater adiposity in late adolescence amongst non-Hispanic White individuals.Pediatric obesity · 2024Article
- Neurobiological Implications of Chronic Stress and Metabolic Dysregulation in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Exploring the potential of stratum corneum biomarkers for assessing psychological distress in health care workers: An observational pilot study.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Is Smart Working Beneficial for Workers' Wellbeing? A Longitudinal Investigation of Smart Working, Workload, and Hair Cortisol/Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Investigating the influence of shift work rosters on stress measured as cortisol in hair during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Article
- Hair cortisol change at COVID-19 pandemic onset predicts burnout among health personnel.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Article
- Investigating Predictive Factors of Suicidal Re-attempts in Adolescents and Young Adults After a First Suicide Attempt, a Prospective Cohort Study. Study Protocol of the SURAYA Project.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- The potential of using hair cortisol to measure chronic stress in occupational healthcare; a scoping review.Journal of occupational health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesWorkplace-based selective prevention of mental health problems currently relies on subjective evaluation of stress complaints. Hair cortisol captures chronic stress responses and could be a promising biomarker for the early identification of mental health problems. The objective was to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art knowledge on the practical value of hair cortisol in the occupational setting.
methodsWe performed a scoping review of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO up to November 2019 assessing the relations of hair cortisol with work-related stressors, perceived stress, and mental health outcomes in healthy workers.
resultsWe found five longitudinal studies, of which two observed an increase in work-related stressors to be associated with higher hair cortisol, one found a relation with lower hair cortisol and one did not find a relationship. Findings of cross-sectional studies were also mixed. The one available longitudinal study regarding mental health showed that hair cortisol was not related to depressive symptoms.
conclusionsHair cortisol measurement within occupational health research is still in its early stage and more longitudinal studies are urgently needed to clarify its relationship with work-related stressors and perceived stress before hair cortisol can be used to identify workers at risk for mental health problems.
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.