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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jan 31.
Published in final edited form as: Brain Behav Immun. 2014 Sep 7;0:253–269. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2014.08.008

Table 2.

Factors to Measure and Methodological Considerations for Future Studies

Pre-existing factors to measure

  • Gender, BMI, age

  • Other sociodemographic factors, including SES indicators

  • Pre-existing health status, including oral health

  • Medication use

  • Menstrual cycle status and use of hormonal birth control in women

Methodological recommendations:

  • Use a well-validated stress paradigm, such as the TSST

  • Use only those with good oral health, or control for oral health status; ideally as determined by an expert (e.g., dentist), or by excluding those with known periodontal disease

  • Use immunoassays optimized for saliva whenever possible

  • Use the passive drool collection method and measure salivary flow rate when possible

  • Collect saliva at multiple time points to capture full change and recovery (e.g., at baseline; 30, 60, and ideally at least 120 minutes after completion of the stressor)