Table 1.

Research question in PICOTS format

PICOTS	Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Patients or populations	Adults aged 18 years or older
	Patients with current PTSD based on DSM/ICD criteria
Exposures	Trauma exposure fulfilling DSM/ICD criteria occurring at least a month prior to assessment in PTSD patients and TEC
Comparison group(s)	PTSD patients versus all controls
	Subgroup analysis:
	PTSD patients versus TEC
	PTSD patients versus TUC
Outcomes	Basal or baseline cortisol levels (mean levels and standard deviation) measured in different tissue types
Timing	At least 1 month since trauma exposure in PTSD patients and TEC
Setting	Any setting (inpatient, outpatient, community settings)
Study design	Any study design where cortisol levels are compared in patients versus controls (e.g. cross-sectional, case-control and cohort)

DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; ICD, International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems; PICOTS, Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Timing, Setting; PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder; TEC, trauma-exposed controls; TUC, trauma-unexposed controls