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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Collecting Saliva and Measuring Salivary Cortisol and Alpha-amylase in Frail Community Residing Older Adults via Family Caregivers
Published on: December 18, 2013
Day-to-day variations in salivary cortisol measurements
Shimpei Matsuda1, Taihiko Yamaguchi, Kazuki Okada
1Department of Gnatho-occlusal Function, Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 13, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8586, Japan. shinpei@den.hokudai.ac.jp
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to clarify the day-to-day variations of salivary cortisol to discuss the appropriate timing for collecting saliva in a day for stress evaluation.
Materials And Methods:
Saliva samples from twelve healthy adults were collected by means of Salivette(®) (SARSTEDT Co.) three times per day, immediately after awakening (Time1), 6:00 PM (Time2) and 30 min before going to bed (Time3), on 5 nonconsecutive days. Cortisol concentration was measured using a radioimmunoassay.
Results:
Salivary cortisol concentration showed the larger value at Time1 than that at Time2. The mean value of %CV for day-to-day variation showed the smallest value at Time1 (mean: 43.1%) and the largest value at Time3 (mean: 100.3%). There were significant differences in %CV value between Time1 and Time3, Time2 (mean: 64.1%) and Time3.
Conclusions:
There are considerable day-to-day variations in salivary cortisol concentration measurements. From the viewpoint of day-to-day variation, collecting saliva immediately after awakening in the morning is thought to be more advantageous for evaluating cortisol concentration.
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