Table 3. Comparison if the cortisol response to mental stress in responders.

Measures	High Fitness group	Low Fitness group	p-value*
AUC I	120.38 (28.65)	76.99 (30.39)	0.12
Cortisol increment (peak-s1) [nmol/L]	6.83 (1.44)	5.40 (0.92)	0.08
Mean peak time [min]	38.75 (5.49)	38.00 (7.35)	0.55
Rising slope (s1-to-peak)	0.18 (0.03)	0.16 (0.02)	0.49
Recovery slope (peak-to-s4)	-0.30 (0.09)	-0.21 (0.63)	0.09

Comparison between the cortisol reactivity to mental stress in responders from the high-fit (HF, n = 8) and low-fit (LF, n = 5) groups. Between-group differences in the cortisol response indices were assessed by ANCOVA testing, adjusting for age, BMI, and pre-stress (baseline) cortisol levels as covariates. Data are reported as mean values (±SEM).

*ANCOVA testing, adjusted for age, BMI, and pre-stress (baseline) cortisol.