Profile of brazilian dissertations and theses about the cortisol as a stress marker

Resumo

To Identify in dissertations and theses available on Brazilian Theses database of Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) information about the effects of cortisol as marker of stress; characterize the sample of the study. Study of literature review narrative, descriptive, the data were collected in February 2013, in pairs, following the research protocol previously established. There were analyzed 89 dissertations and theses in the light of the pillars: academic level; place of the study development; year; author's formation; the study population; the generator element of stress; and material analyzed. The majority of the studies denoted a significant change on the cortisol level through exposure to stress generator element (74; 83.1%), revealing that this is a good marker of response to stress. It was noticed that there is a need to promote the development of clinical research with human beings, especially as health professionals.