Table 1 Level of hair cortisol concentration in 51 patients with appendicitis and 82 healthy controls.

From: Associations of hair cortisol concentrations with paediatric appendicitis

 

Low HCC (n = 66)

High HCC (n = 67)

p value

Age (years)

9 (1–14)

5 (1–15)

0.001*

Sex (Male)

25 (38%)

35 (52%)

0.10**

Viral infections < 6 m

1 (0–6)

2 (0–8)

0.15*

Bacterial infections < 6 m

0 (0–1)

0 (0–2)

0.06*

Surgery < 6 m

1 (2%)

1 (1%)

0.99**

Serious illness < 6 m

4 (6%)

2 (3%)

0.39**

Serious life events < 6 m

2 (3%)

2 (3%)

0.99**

Season

  

0.038**

Winter

23 (35%)

10 (15%)

0.008**

Spring

6 (9%)

5 (7%)

0.73**

Summer

13 (20%)

14 (21%)

0.86**

Autumn

24 (36%)

38 (57%)

0.019**

Appendicitis

28 (42%)

23 (34%)

0.34**

Complicated appendicitis

15 (54%)

19 (83%)

0.029**

  1. Values presented as median (min–max) or as absolute number (percentage of patients/controls); HCC: hair cortisol concentration; Low HCC < 22.96 pg/mg (median), high HCC ≥ 22.96 pg/mg; *Mann–Whitney U-test, **Chi-squared test.
Back to article page