| Invasiveness of sampling | High [57,66], painful | Low [66], painless | Low [66], painless | Low [67], painless |
| Risk of contamination from external sources | Low | High [66] | High | Low |
| Training required for sampling | Yes [57,66] | No | No [66] | No |
| Possibility of repeated sampling | Yes | Yes [68] | Yes | Yes |
| Ethical and legal licenses required | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Biosecurity concerns | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Results depend on time of sampling | Yes | Yes [68] | Yes | Yes |
| Results depend on sampling location | Yes | No | No | No |
| Steroid medications may confound results | Yes | Yes [68] | Yes | Yes |
| Sampling requires live animals | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sample preparation is laborious and time consuming | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Storage conditions | Refrigerator, freezer [69] | Refrigerator, freezer | Refrigerator, freezer | Refrigerator, freezer [70] |
| Time range represented by biomarker measurement | Single point, hour | Single point, hour | 12–24 h | 8–12 h |
| Biomarker forms represented | Bound, unbound [66] | Unbound [66] | Unbound | Bound, unbound |
| Sampling procedure may confound results | Possibly | Possibly | No | No |
| Stress type | Acute [71] | Acute [71] | Acute [71] | Acute [70] |
| Analytical cost | Relatively expensive | Relatively expensive [72] | Relatively expensive | Relatively expensive |