Cited by 552Hormonal and reproductive studiesMenopause: Health Impacts and TreatmentsAdrenal Hormones and Disorders

Association of Specific Symptoms and Metabolic Risks with Serum Testosterone in Older Men

Zitzmann, Michael, Faber, Stephanie, Nieschlag, Eberhard·2006·The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Abstract

Context: Although attention and concern about health disorders in aging men have been growing, the structure of psychological and somatic complaints of actual patients, not population-based cohorts, has not been elucidated in relation to sex hormone patterns and metabolism. Objective: The objective of the study was investigation of factors influencing complaint structures in aging male patients. Design: This was a cross-sectional cohort study. Setting: The study was conducted in an andrological outpatient department. Patients: Subjects included 434 consecutive male patients aged 50–86 yr. Main Outcome Measures: The following hypotheses were measured: 1) psychosomatic complaints and metabolic factors in aging male patients are related to sex hormone levels in a symptom-specific manner, and 2) patients form subcohorts. Results: A clear-cut threshold for late-onset hypogonadism was not found; rather, prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms and metabolic risk factors accumulated with decreasing androgen levels. For example, androgen-induced prevalence of loss of libido or vigor increased below testosterone concentrations of 15 nmol/liter (P < 0.001), whereas depression and diabetes mellitus type 2 (also in nonobese men) were significantly more present in men with testosterone concentrations below 10 nmol/liter (P < 0.001). Erectile dysfunction was identified as a composite pathology of metabolic risk factors, smoking, and depressivity, whereas only testosterone concentrations below 8 nmol/liter contributed to that symptom (P = 0.003). Cluster analysis revealed aging men to present within three independent groups characterized by psychosomatic complaints, metabolic disorders, and sexual health problems. These subgroups of patients exhibit distinct features in terms of androgen levels, age, and body mass index. Conclusions: There is no evidence that a uniform structure of testosterone concentrations and complaints exists within the cohort of elderly male patients. Rather, in aging male patients, psychosomatic complaints and metabolic risk relate to testosterone in a symptom-specific manner.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1210/jc.2006-0401

Cites

28 of 28 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Some biological functions, such as erectile function, are composite in nature, and in addition to testosterone, endothelial function and psychological factors are equally relevant.

    “Some biological functions, like erectile functions are composite in nature, and next to testosterone, endothelial function and psychological factors are equally relevant (2).”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zitzmann, M., Faber, S., & Nieschlag, E.
Affiliations
University of Münster (DE)
Venue
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Published
2006-11-01
Volume
91
Issue
11
Pages
4335-4343
ISSN
  • 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-7197
OpenAlex
W2067749656
Cited by
552
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 37 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 44
FWCI
20.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
Keywords
andropause, serum testosterone, older men, psychosomatic symptoms, metabolic risk factors, erectile dysfunction, depression, type 2 diabetes, low libido, androgen levels, symptom clusters, male sexual health
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Humans, Hypogonadism, Male, Middle Aged, Psychophysiologic Disorders, Risk Factors, Testosterone, Cohort Studies, Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological, Metabolic Syndrome, Andropause

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review