The use of cortisol as a physiologic marker of stress in women of reproductive age

Main goal: To develop appropriate methods for the use of cortisol as a physiologic marker of stress in women of reproductive age

Background: Cortisol is commonly used as a marker of physiologic stress. However, analysis and interpretation of cortisol data are complicated because of intra- and inter-individual variations in terms of basal cortisol production as well as temporal variability around that baseline.

Aims:

  1. Describe temporal variability in cortisol production within and between individuals
  2. Evaluate appropriate statistical methods to compare cortisol values across individuals
  3. Based on the observed within- and between-individual variation in cortisol production, assess appropriate sample sizes to make accurate comparisons across individuals.

Funding: This project is supported by an operating grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Career Investigator Scholar Award, and the Human Evolutionary Studies Program at Simon Fraser University, which was supported by the Simon Fraser University Community Trust Endowment Fund.

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