Prevalence of low androgen levels among middle and old age men attending Outpatient Clinics

Abstract

Introduction: Tiredness is a common symptom of hypogonadism, which can be profound, but there are many medical practitioners who do not include the assessment of testosterone levels in the clinical workup of this symptom. Although male hypogonadism is an established clinical condition, which can be treated, many men experiencing it are undiagnosed.Aim:The aim was to assess the prevalence of low androgen level among middle and old age men in a cohort of patients attending Kasr Elaini hospital outpatient clinics.Patients and Methods: A total of 265 male patients older than 40 years attending the outpatient clinics in different specialty were included. All included men were subjected to full history taking and complete general and local examinations. All participants were interviewed personally face to face using Arabic generic version of full aging male scale (AMS) questionnaire. Venous blood samples were withdrawn between 8 and 10 a.m. after a 12-h overnight fast for measurements of total and free testosterone levels.Results: The mean total testosterone level was 4.0 ± 2.6 ng/ml, ranging from 0.4 to 16.4 ng/ml. The mean free testosterone level was 6.9 ± 2.4 pg/ml, with range between 1.4 and 18.5 pg/ml. Low androgen level was founded in 19.2% of the participants based on total testosterone and in 36.2% when adding the participants with low free testosterone levels. AMS score showed statistically significant difference between age groups (P<0.001). Age is negatively correlated with total and free testosterone levels (r=-0.226 and -0.242, respectively), but the correlation is weak. Total testosterone level shows strong positive correlation with free testosterone level and weak negative correlation with AMS score (r=0.732 and -0.240, respectively).Conclusion: The prevalence of hypogonadism among middle and old age males seeking medical consultation in different specialties may be high.