TABLE 3.

Hormonal responses between pre- and post-kickboxing competition (mean ± SD or relative effect %).

Study	Moreira et al. [36]	Ouergui et al. [15]	Ouergui et al. [5]*
Type of competition	Simulation	Official	Simulation
Athletes’ characteristics (gender, n, age)	São Paulo re gional or national kickboxers (males: n=20; 23±4 years)	Tunisian regional and national kickboxers (males: n=20; 21.3±2.7 years)	Tunisian regional and national kickboxers (NR: n=20; 21.3±2.7 years)
Combat duration (min)	3x4 min with 1 min rest in-between	3x2 min with 1 min rest in-between	3x2 min with 1 min rest in-between
Collection method (time of day)	Salivary (morning)	Blood (evening)	Blood (NR)
Unit	ng/ml	ng/ml	ng/ml
Cortisol	Pre 38.5±19.0 Imm-Post 57.5±21.0a	Pre 97.7±49.2 Imm-Post 143.7±39.4a	Pre 97.7±37.1 Imm-Post 143.7±29.4a
Testosterone		Pre 3.2±1.3 Imm-Post 4.5±1.6a	Pre 3.2±1.3 Imm-Post 4.5±1.6a
T/C ratio		Pre 0.03±0.01 Imm-Post 0.03±0.01(NSD)	Pre 0.03±0.01 Imm-Post 0.03±0.01 (NSD)
GH		Pre 0.6±0.6 Imm-Post 11.4±4.1a	Pre 0.6±0.6 Imm-Post 11.4±4.1a

^asignificantly different from pre-competition level at p < 0.05; GH: growth hormone; NSD: not significantly different compared to pre-competition; NR: not reported; Imm: immediately;

^*we did not use this study in the quantitative synthesis because the authors presented the same data in the study of Ouergui et al. [15].