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Stress, Cortisol, and Periodontitis in a Population Aged 50 Years and Over

¹ Post-graduate Program in Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2600/414 Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003, Brazil;
² Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry of Piracicaba, State University of Campinas, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil; and
³ Psychology Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

^* corresponding author, juhilger{at}terra.com.br

Periodontitis and its relationship with psycho-neuro-immunological variables, such as psychological stress and cortisol, have been little explored. The objective of this study was to evaluate the extent and severity of chronic periodontitis and its association with the levels of salivary cortisol and the scores obtained with a stress questionnaire in a population aged 50 years and over. We studied 235 individuals in a cross-sectional study. They answered the Lipp’s Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults, were instructed to collect three saliva samples for cortisol analysis, and were examined for evaluation for periodontitis. Based on logistic regression, cortisol levels were positively associated with the following outcomes: means of clinical attachment level (CAL) > = 4 mm [OR = 5.1, 95%CI (1.2, 20.7)]; 30% of sites with CAL > = 5 mm [OR = 6.9, 95%CI (1.7, 27.1)]; and 26% of sites with probing depth > = 4 mm [OR = 10.7, 95%CI (1.9, 54.1)] after adjustment for confounding variables. The results suggest that cortisol levels were positively associated with the extent and severity of periodontitis.

KEY WORDS: stress • periodontitis • glucocorticoids

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