Table 1.

Subjective, autonomic, and endocrine responses to stress

ControlStress
Subjective assessments
    Stressful1.00 ± 0.5657.00 ± 5.41**
    Painful0.33 ± 0.3359.00 ± 4.97**
    Unpleasant6.00 ± 3.8242.33 ± 5.65**
Systolic blood pressure
    Before treatment117.59 ± 2.66122.08 ± 2.89
    During treatment116.50 ± 2.56138.05 ± 2.70**
    After treatment113.01 ± 2.53115.54 ± 2.72
Diastolic blood pressure
    Before treatment68.51 ± 1.7669.94 ± 2.57
    During treatment67.01 ± 2.1081.96 ± 1.69**
    After treatment66.26 ± 1.6265.49 ± 1.37
Salivary cortisol
    Before treatment11.17 ± 1.429.28 ± 0.78
    1 min after treatment10.36 ± 1.268.42 ± 0.63
    25 min after treatment7.90 ± 0.8814.52 ± 1.84**
    90 min after treatment6.12 ± 0.938.05 ± 0.83

  • Subjective assessments were given on a scale from 0 to 100.

  • ↵**Control group versus stress group, p <0.01, Bonferroni corrected. Data represent mean ± SEM.