Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, Texas, United States of America.
University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, Texas, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 28;19(8):e0309160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309160. eCollection 2024.
For two decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, testosterone therapy (TT) became more prevalent in the US. Given the forced shift in practice patterns and healthcare accessibility during the pandemic, it was unclear how TT utilization would change.
To assess the change in testosterone prescriptions nationally.
Cross-sectional study.
State prescription drug monitoring program data between 2018 and 2022.
All individuals filling testosterone prescriptions in participating states.
Unique people filling testosterone prescriptions annually, demographic information on gender and age as available.
In 2022 there was a 27% relative increase of subjects treated with TT (+439,659 cases compared with 2018). The increase was more evident in the pandemic period with a rise in prevalence most notable for people 45-54 (114,114 people, 35% increase) and 35-44 (97,263 people, 58% increase). All regions except the Midwest increased the total population treated, led by the South (52%) followed by the West (28%) and Northeast (23%). Available data indicated men accounted for most patients treated in all age groups except under 24 years.
Study population limited to those in participating states with no diagnostic information and limited demographics available.
Between 2018 and 2022, and primarily after the start of the pandemic in 2020, nationally there was a substantial increase in the number of people using TT. The largest increases occurred in a younger demographic, primarily men, than have previously been reported or studied. These results echo other findings showing increased use of controlled substances during the pandemic period and warrant further study regarding the factors behind this rise.
在 COVID-19 大流行之前的二十年中，美国的睾酮治疗（TT）更为普遍。考虑到大流行期间实践模式和医疗保健可及性的强制性转变，尚不清楚 TT 的使用情况会如何变化。
评估全国范围内睾酮处方的变化。
横断面研究。
2018 年至 2022 年期间的州处方药监测计划数据。
所有在参与州开睾酮处方的个人。
每年接受 TT 治疗的独特患者人数，以及可用的性别和年龄等人口统计学信息。
2022 年，接受 TT 治疗的患者相对增加了 27%（与 2018 年相比增加了 439,659 例）。在大流行期间，这种增加更为明显，45-54 岁人群（增加 114,114 人，增加 35%）和 35-44 岁人群（增加 97,263 人，增加 58%）的患病率上升最为明显。除中西部地区外，所有地区的治疗总人数都有所增加，其中南部地区（增加 52%）领先，其次是西部地区（增加 28%）和东北部地区（增加 23%）。可用数据表明，除 24 岁以下人群外，所有年龄段的患者中，男性均占大多数。
研究人群仅限于参与州的人群，没有诊断信息和有限的人口统计学信息。
在 2018 年至 2022 年期间，尤其是在 2020 年大流行开始后，全国使用 TT 的人数大幅增加。增加幅度最大的是以前报告或研究中未曾报道过的年轻人群，主要是男性。这些结果与其他研究结果相呼应，表明在大流行期间，受控物质的使用增加，并需要进一步研究导致这种增加的因素。
