Efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure on testosterone in men with obstructive sleep apnea: a meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on serum testosterone in men with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS: Two reviewers independently searched PubMed, Cochrane library, Embase and Web of Science before June 2014. Information on characteristics of subjects, study design, pre- and post-CPAP treatment of serum total testosterone, free testosterone and sexual hormone blinding protein (SHBG) was extracted for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 7 studies with 9 cohorts that included 232 men were pooled into meta-analysis. There was no change of total testosterone levels before and after CPAP treatment in OSA men (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.14, 95%CI: -0.63 to 0.34, z = 0.59, p = 0.558), even subdivided by CPAP therapeutic duration (>3 months). Meanwhile, no significant differences in free testosterone and SHBG were detected after CPAP treatment (SMD = 0.16, 95%CI: -0.09 to 0.40, z = 1.25, p = 0.211 and SMD = -0.58, 95%CI: -1.30 to 0.14, z = 1.59, p = 0.112, respectively). CONCLUSION: CPAP has no influence on testosterone levels in men with OSA, further large-scale, well-design interventional investigation is needed.
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Two meta-analyses concluded that CPAP has no effect on testosterone in men with OSA.
“the two available meta-analyses have not concluded that CPAP therapy increases testosterone in men with OSA, but have instead concluded that CPAP has no effect on testosterone [108, 109].”
From Sleep, testosterone and cortisol balance, and ageing men (2022) · cites this paper as [108]
In a recent meta-analysis including 232 men, CPAP had no consistent effect on testosterone levels.
“However, in a recent meta-analysis including 232 men, CPAP had no consistent effect on testosterone levels (37).”
From A Perspective on Middle-Aged and Older Men With Functional Hypogonadism: Focus on Holistic Management (2017) · cites this paper as [37]
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- Authors
- Zhang, X.-B., Jiang, X.-T., Du, Y.-P., Yuan, Y.-T., & Chen, B.
- Affiliations
- Xiamen University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, Xiao-Bin
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2014-12-11
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- e115033
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4263732
- OpenAlex
- W2029703634
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 0.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Obstructive Sleep Apnea Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Keywords
- continuous positive airway pressure, obstructive sleep apnea, testosterone, free testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, men
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Male, Testosterone, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Sleep Apnea, Obstructive, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
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