Low serum testosterone and frailty in older men and women
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Frail older persons are at high risk of morbidity and mortality, and are characterized by body composition alterations. Serum testosterone, which regulates body composition, declines with age. We investigated the relation between serum testosterone level and physiological frailty in both older men and women.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 108 adults 65 years old or older. Frailty status was determined by hand-grip strength, weight change, walking speed, exhaustion, and activity levels, and was classified as frail (3 or more deficits), pre-frail (1 or 2 deficits), or robust (no deficit) according to the Fried criteria. Serum total testosterone (TT) and sex-hormone-binding globulin were measured while free testosterone (FT) was estimated.
RESULTS: Median (range) TT and FT were lower in frail than in pre-frail and robust men (TT: (frail) 15.7 [2.4-26.9] vs. (pre-frail) 19.4 [7.2-39.9] and (robust) 25.9 [13.2-35.2] nmol/L, P=0.03; FT: 230.0 [35.9-299.0] vs. 272.0 [86.7-411.0] and 303.0 [267.0-396.0] pmol/L, P=0.02) and women (TT: 0.31 [0.10-0.51] vs. 0.47 [0.14-1.55] and 0.45 [0.36-1.25] nmol/L, P=0.02; FT: 4.59 [0.46-6.63] vs. 4.66 [1.57-15.10] and 6.65 [3.91-21.00] pmol/L, P=0.03). After adjusting for age, comorbidities, body mass index, and serum albumin in ordinal logistic regression model, odds ratios of being frail were significantly higher for those participants whose TT and FT levels were in the lowest tertile compared to the highest tertile in…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 108 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Induced osteoblast differentiation by amide derivatives of stilbene: The possible osteogenic agents
- On model selections for repeated measurement data in clinical studies
- Regulation of GLUT transporters by flavonoids in androgen-sensitive and -insensitive prostate cancer cells
- Region-specific microRNA signatures in the human epididymis
- Synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking of 4-Amino-2H-benzo[h]chromen-2-one (ABO) analogs containing the piperazine moiety
- In Vitro characterization of the endocrine disrupting effects of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) on the human androgen receptor
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.