Table 5.

Mean and SD of salivary cortisol rhythm

Salivary cortisol (ng/dL)	OTS athletes (OTS) (n = 14)	Healthy athletes (ATL) (n = 25)	Non-active subjects (NCS) (n = 12)
Awakening	329 (± 222)	337 (± 131)	266 (± 149)
30′ after awakening	324*** (± 116)	500& (± 168)	393 (± 149)
4 PM	166 (± 113)	144 (± 83)	130 (± 57)
11 PM	94 (± 39)	95 (± 38)	83 (± 11)
Cortisol awakening response (CAR) %	32.4	62.2	79.08

Differences between OTS and ATL: ***p < 0.005;

Differences between ATL and NCS: ^& p < 0.05

SD standard deviation