CORTISOL SAMPLE FROM SALIVA

The sample for examining cortisol in saliva is collected late at night between 11 p.m. and midnight. Half an hour's deviation in the time of collection does not have a significant impact on the result. Before collecting the sample, avoid physical extortion for three hours and eating and washing your teeth for one hour. Cortisol medication and other medication (e.g. Prednisone) impact saliva's cortisol level. Do not consume substances that increase salivation, such as lemon juice, in connection with the sample collection. You can drink half a glass of clean water before the sample collection to rinse your mouth. If you have deviated from the instructions, notify the examination conductor.

If the laboratory receiving the sample is closed at weekend, do not collect the sample on Friday night.

Sampling equipment

Salivette Cortisol collection tube, a sealable plastic bag and a name label. There is a pad of polyethylene cotton wool inside the tube.

Collecting the saliva sample

Open the Salivette Cortisol collection tube which contains a pad of cotton wool. Drop the pad of cotton wool directly into your dry mouth. Avoid touching the pad of cotton wool with your hands. Sweat, moisturisers and other substances can affect the reliability of the sample. Keep the pad of cotton wool in your mouth for at least one minute or until the pad starts to feel wet and it no longer absorbs more saliva and you can swallow the excess saliva.

Without touching it with your hands, put the wet pad back in the tube so that it goes inside the separate plastic case. Close the tube.

The name label is necessary for identifying the sample

Stick a label on to the tube. Write on it:

• your name
• your social security number
• date and time of sample

You can return the label in the same plastic bag with the collection tube.

If you did not receive a separate label with the collection tube, you can fill in the information in the label on the side of the tube.

Store the sample in a refrigerator

Seal the sample tube inside a plastic bag. Store the sample in a refrigerator over the night and deliver it to the laboratory on the next day or no later than within 48 hours of sample collection. You can deliver the sample without an appointment during the laboratory's opening hours.

Further information

For more information, please contact the customer service of Fimlab Laboratoriot Oy, tel. 010 808 515 on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Aiheeseen liittyvät muut ohjeet