Associations of sex hormone concentrations with health and life satisfaction in elderly men.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze associations between sex hormone concentrations and self-rated health and life satisfaction, neuropsychiatric symptoms, or diagnosed depression or dementia in elderly men.


METHODS
The study subjects were men from the community-based Lieto Study (N = 517). Subjects were excluded from the study if they were taking exogenous sex hormones or medication for prostate cancer or for benign prostatic hyperplasia or if data for calculating body mass index (BMI) were missing. Thus, 466 men (64 to 97 years old; mean age, 72 years; mean BMI, 26.9 kg/m(2)) remained for further analysis.


RESULTS
After adjustment for age, higher levels of testosterone and free testosterone were associated with better self-rated health. After adjustment for age and BMI, no statistically significant associations were found between sex hormone levels and self-rated health or life satisfaction or most neuropsychiatric symptoms in elderly men. Diagnosed depression was associated with a lower serum testosterone concentration. Higher levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone were associated with diagnosed dementia.


CONCLUSIONS
In this population-based study with high attendance rate, low serum testosterone concentration was associated with diagnosed depression. Subclinical hypogonadism may be associated with diagnosed dementia. Single questions on neuropsychiatric symptoms commonly associated with androgen deficiency seemed to have weak or no correlation with testosterone or free testosterone levels among this group of elderly men.
Eskelinen
Seija I
SI
Department of Family Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Vahlberg
Tero J
TJ
Isoaho
Raimo E
RE
Kivelä
Sirkka-Liisa
SL
Irjala
Kerttu M
KM
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003704:Dementia / Q000097:blood; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007006:Hypogonadism / Q000097:blood; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000032:analysis; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone