Prevalence of testosterone deficiency among aging men with and without morbidities
Juris Erenpreiss, Violeta Fodina, Rita Pozarska, Ksenija Zubkova, Alesja Dudorova & Anatolijs Pozarskis
Received 28 Apr 2019, Accepted 18 May 2019, Published online: 01 Jun 2019
Download citation  https://doi.org/10.1080/13685538.2019.1621832 

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Abstract
In this cross-sectional study 1852 men aged 40–70 years attending primary health care were invited to fill out the aging male symptoms (AMS) scale. Out of these, 1222 men were found positive for the AMS and agreed to provide blood samples for the general blood test, lipid profile, glucose levels, and assessment of both total and free testosterone (T) levels. Men were screened for the following morbidities and syndromes: dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, obesity, type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Testosterone deficiency was diagnosed if total T ≤ 3.46 ng/mL or free T ≤ 72 pg/mL. Among all 1222 men with positive AMS, decreased blood testosterone levels were detected in 669 men (55%). A total of 402 men were found healthy and 820 men were detected with different morbidities. Out of 669 men with testosterone deficiency, only 2.8% had no co-morbidities and 97.2% were men with co-morbidities. Testosterone levels were found significantly higher among healthy men (median 4.7 ng/mL) as compared to the men with morbidities (median 2.55 ng/mL, p<.001), adjusted for age. Testosterone deficiency was detected in significantly lower proportion of 402 men without co-morbidities as compared to the 820 men with co-morbidities: in 19 men (4.7) and in 650 men (79.3%, p<.05), respectively.

Keywords: Testosterone, aging men, late onset hypogonadism