ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2023
Increases in stress hormone levels in a UK population during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective cohort study.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Age and Hair Cortisol Levels as Predictors of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Changes in hair cortisol in a New Zealand community sample during the Covid-19 pandemic.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Higher oxytocin concentrations occur in subjects who build affiliative relationships with companion robots.iScience · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundResearch suggests that psychological factors may influence vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 infection, although the mechanisms are unclear. PURPOSE: We examined whether the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may be a possible mechanism, by measuring the relationship between indices of psychological distress and cortisone in hair (hairE) in a UK cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsParticipants (N = 827) provided two 3 cm hair samples over a 6-month period between April-September 2020. Samples reflected hairE in the 3 months prior to the collection date.
resultsHairE in the first samples (T1: commenced April 2020) did not differ significantly from pre-pandemic population norms. However, hairE in the second samples (T2: commenced July 2020) were significantly higher than T1 and pre-pandemic population norms, with a 23% increase between T1 and T2. Linear regressions, controlling for age and gender, demonstrated that at both timepoints, hairE levels were greatest in people with a history of mental health difficulties. In addition, stress reported at T1 predicted greater hairE at T2 and a greater change in hairE between T1 and T2.
conclusionsThese findings demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic hairE was substantially elevated across a large community cohort, with greatest levels in those with a history of mental health difficulties and greatest changes in those reporting greatest levels of stress early in the pandemic. Further research is required with verified SARS-CoV-2 outcomes to determine whether the HPA axis is among the mechanisms by which a history of mental health difficulties and stress influence SARS-CoV-2 outcomes.
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