Comparisons of Urinary Versus Serum Cortisol in Older Persons

Abstract

The present analysis compared urine - versus serum - based amounts of the stress hormone cortisol in two older adult samples , given that urine as a sample medium is a less expensive and less invasive method of deter mining cortisol amounts relative to serum . Seventy - three older adults provided urine samples as part of an ongoing study to assess levels of cortisol as a function of intellectual efficacy / performance ; these data were compared to serum cortisol levels obtained from 96 older adults in a separate study examining health beliefs and cortisol levels . Analyses indicated that the cortisol levels did not differ across samples , i . e ., corti sol amounts measured in serum or urine yielded similar , typical ( within normal ranges ) results . The data , though preliminary , indicate that urine may provide an alternative to serum when assessing cortisol in older persons .