Table 2.
The effect of external variables on salivary cortisol levels.
| Variable n30 | Cortisol levels |
Differences | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before |
After |
|||
| Median (min–max) | Median (min–max) | Median (min–max) | ||
| Age | ||||
| Children23 | 4,61 (0,25–9,89) | 4,48 (0,25–15,31) | −0,00 (9,35–3,18) | 0,17a |
| Adolescent7 | 3,80 (0,35–7,28) | 3,33 (0,16–6,16) | −0,54 (2,47–3,95) | |
| Sex | ||||
| Male20 | 6,02 (0,26–9,89) | 4,48 (0,26–6,16) | −0,00 (9,35–3,18) | 0,56a |
| Female10 | 2,19 (0,25–7,28) | 1,89 (0,16–8,37) | −0,03 (5,72–3,92) | |
| Drugs consume | ||||
| Yes26 | 3,46 (0,25–9,68) | 3,27 (0,16–15,31) | −0,00 (9,35–3,95) | 0,62a |
| No4 | 6,21 (4,61–9,89) | 6,08 (2,69–10,35) | −0,14 (0,47–1,92) | |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Yes21 | 4,17 (0,258–9,89) | 4,48 (0,16–15,31) | 0,20 (9,35–1,92) | 0,01∗,a |
| No9 | 4,12 (0,61–8,02) | 3,16 (0,44–7,38) | −0,63 (0,99–3,95) | |
| Frequency of needle insertion | ||||
| 124 | 4,97 (0,25–9,89) | 4,00 (0,25–15,31) | −0,00 (9,35–3,95) | 0.70b |
| 24 | 1,80 (0,61–3,68) | 1,89 (0,44–6,16) | 0,08 (2,47–0,17) | |
| 42 | 5,01 (0,35–9,68) | 5,35 (0,16–10,54) | 0,34 (0,86–0,19) | |
Note: min: minimum; max: maximum; (∗) p-value <0.05 is significant; (a) analysed by Mann Whitney test, (b) analysed by Kruskal Wallis test.