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Salivary cortisol concentrations in police officers – a cross-sectional study in Beijing, China

Yan-Xia Zhang, Jie Liu, Yan-Qin Liu, Wei Lu, Ai-Lian Hou

Bioscience Reports, 2020

122 participants · 4 citations

Abstract

Abstract Objective: We investigated the relationship between salivary cortisol level and the prevalence of depression 585 police officers working at the Police Departments of Beijing. Method: Cross-sectional data were obtained from 585 Chinese police officers recruited from Beijing, China. Salivary cortisol was assayed using the chemiluminescence immunoassay. A multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders was used to assess independent associations between salivary cortisol level and depression. Results: The median age of the included was 38 years (IQR, 29–45), 20.9% were female (n = 122). Finally, 15.6% (91/585; 95% CI: 12.6–18.5%) were considered to have depression. The median salivary cortisol level was significantly higher in police with depression than those police without depression [14.5(IQR, 11.9–15.9) nmol/l vs. 11.8(IQR, 9.4–14.2) nmol/l; P < 0.001]. The depression distribution across the salivary cortisol quartiles ranged between 5.4% (first quartile) and 26.9% (fourth quartile), P for trend <0.001. In multivariate models comparing the second (Q2), third and fourth quartiles against the first quartile of the salivary cortisol, cortisol in Q3 and Q4 were associated with depression, and increased prevalence of depression by 148% (OR: 2.48; 95% CI: 1.55–3.86) and 277% (3.77; 2.12–5.36). Based on ROC curves, the optimal cutoff value of salivary cortisol level to diagnose the depression was 13.8 nmol/l, which yielded the highest sensitivity…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 122 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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