ReviewComprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology2022
The Cortisol Assessment List (CoAL) A tool to systematically document and evaluate cortisol assessment in blood, urine and saliva.
Review in Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hair Cortisol Research in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - 10 Years of Insights and Open Questions. A Systematic Review.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Cortisol response to traumatic stress to predict PTSD symptom development - a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Hypnotic safety suggestions reduce cortisol awakening response and morning heart rate in daily life.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- The Effects of an Online Yoga Nidra Meditation on Subjective Well-Being and Diurnal Salivary Cortisol: A Randomised Controlled Trial.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Trial
- Determinants and outcomes of pubertal stress recalibration process: A scoping review.Biological psychology · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the salivary biomarker cortisol in patients with temporomandibular disorders.Journal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2026Observational
- Sleep quality and the biological stress system during an internet-based intervention for major depressive disorder.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Experimental paradigm to test the effects of providing social support: study protocol of the PROSPECT trial (Study 2).BMC psychology · 2025Article
- The researcher's guide to selecting biomarkers in mental health studies.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2024Review
- Abnormal cortisol profile during psychosocial stress among patients with schizophrenia in a Chinese population.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Open and reproducible science practices in psychoneuroendocrinology: Opportunities to foster scientific progress.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The reliable assessment of cortisol is a necessary requirement to produce replicable research. Several recommendations to increase cortisol assessment reliability exist. However, cortisol assessment methodology is still rather heterogeneous. For this reason, the Cortisol Assessment List (CoAL) was created.The CoAL can be used to guide researchers during the planning phase and document which measures were taken to increase cortisol data reliability in original studies. Moreover, the CoAL can be used to evaluate data quality in meta research. The items representing strategies to obtain reliable cortisol data can be weighted to indicate which are absolutely necessary to consider and which could be applied less restrictively in order to balance data quality and feasibility. In this paper, the construction process of the CoAL is described. Methods: Item synthesis of the CoAL included a literature search to extract empirically based suggestions regarding the reliable assessment of cortisol. Estimates for the item weighting system were obtained by inviting experts in the field to participate in an online survey (n = 25). Inter-rater reliability (IRR) of the CoAL, was determined by letting independent raters use the CoAL to evaluate a set of randomly selected original studies (k = 90). Results: The CoAL was divided into four subscales related to the Discussion: The CoAL is the first tool to systematically plan, document and evaluate cortisol assessment. The survey results indicate that the majority of respondents are aware of essential requirements to increase data reliability. However, results were heterogeneous for some items, highlighting the need to start a process of developing a broad scientific consensus regarding reliable cortisol assessment. The implementation of the CoAL could be a first step in this direction. In conclusion, the CoAL reflects empirical evidence and expert knowledge regarding cortisol assessment and can be used as a flexible tool to plan and document empirical studies or evaluate cortisol data quality in meta research.
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.