Andropause in Indian men: a preliminary cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of androgen decline in the aging male (ADAM) in a group of Indian men working in the health sector.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A free medical health checkup camp was organized for the male workers aged between 40 and 60 years employed in surgical departments of our hospital. Of 180 listed male workers, 170 attended this camp and 157 eligible men participated in the study. After clinical history and systemic inquiry, the participants were requested to complete the Saint Louis University's ADAM questionnaire, and their serum levels of free and total testosterone were measured.

RESULTS

Symptomatic andropause was found in 106 men (67.5%) on the basis of their responses to the questionnaire, of whom 41 (38.7%) had low serum free testosterone levels and 32 (30.2%) had low serum levels of total testosterone. Fifty-one men were asymptomatic according to the questionnaire and in this group, 11 (21.6%) had low serum free testosterone levels and 6 (11.8%) of these had low total testosterone levels. The frequency of andropause was 33.1% on the basis of low serum free testosterone levels and it was 26.1% when both symptoms and low serum free testosterone levels were taken into account.

CONCLUSION

In our study, the high frequency of symptoms related to ADAM was unusual. This might be due to the nature of the questionnaire itself. Serum free testosterone measurement may be a better single test for diagnosis of hypogonadism than serum total testosterone measurement.