The feasibility of salivary sample collection in an international pediatric cohort: The the TEDDY study

Abstract

Saliva offers a relatively noninvasive method for measuring analytes such as cortisol, holding particular promise for use in pediatric populations on a large scale if a rigorous collection protocol is feasible in diverse settings. The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young study protocol, conducted in centers in the US, Sweden, Finland and Germany, used salivary collection to assess cortisol level as a physiologic marker of stress. Saliva was collected using Sorbettes from subjects at 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years of age. Parents collected a morning sample, and staff collected pre- and post-blood draw samples. Feasibility was assessed based on protocol completion, adherence with instructions, factors affecting adherence and sufficiency of saliva sample for cortisol determination. Collection of saliva samples in a diverse pediatric population is feasible. Establishing non-invasive and acceptable methods for collecting physiological parameters of stress will allow better exploration of determinants of health in this important population.

Salivary Steroid Collection in Children Under Conditions Replicating Home Sampling

“…Other studies of home salivary collection in adults have shown similar results, with good compliance and high rates of acceptability (36,37) and studies in children have reported levels of compliance above 90% in participants as young as 3.5 years (38,39). There are limitations of our studies.…”

Modern Neonatal Transport: Sound and Vibration Levels and Their Impact on Physiological Stability

“…The issues that complicate the reliability of the sample, such as eating, drinking, and exercise, would not be a concern for our population, and saliva collection devices for children and infants are now commercially available. 23 A limitation was that ours was a single-center study with a relatively small sample size. More than half of the infants transported during our study period were excluded from the study; however, excluded infants were noted to be of similar clinical acuity as those included.…”

Home sampling is a feasible method for oral microbiota analysis for infants and mothers

“…This finding is especially important in longitudinal research, since an uncomfortable or difficult sample collection method could contribute to drop-out of study participants. The use of saliva sample collection at home to assess salivary hormones has been studied before, and was considered feasible and acceptable by both parents and children aged between 3.5 and 5 [25] and over 9.5 years old [26]. In these studies, feasibility was based on whether the samples contained sufficient material to perform analysis and whether samples were collected on the required time points.…”