Revisión sistemática: el cortisol salival, un biomarcador de estrés.

Stress allows us to face the demands of our environment, however, when prolonged it produces negative effects on physical and mental health, which is why it is relevant to determine these processes. An approach to this understanding is found in biological markers, such as salivary cortisol, considered a good and viable alternative to measure stress in the scientific literature. The present study is a systematic review in which the objective was to evaluate the methodological processes and findings of those studies that used salivary cortisol as a marker of both acute and basal stress. For this purpose, a specialized search was carried out between the months of February and April of the year 2023 of original investigations published since the year 2015. The search generated a total of 957 articles of which 38 met the selection criteria. Salivary cortisol was found to be a highly efficient biomarker to study both acute and basal stress. To obtain the maximum effectiveness of this biomarker, it is necessary to consider some exogenous variables that can alter the results, either by inhibiting the stress response, decreasing, or increasing cortisol levels. It is also important to establish whether acute or basal stress will be studied, since the methodology for obtaining and evaluating the samples is different. We recommend assessing stress using salivary cortisol along with other biomarkers and/or psychometric scales to increase the precision, increasing validity and reliability of both psychological and neuropsychological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]