title: Association of Free Testosterone With Hypogonadal Symptoms in Men With Near-normal Total Testosterone Levels.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between hypogonadal symptoms and free testosterone (FT) levels in men with near-normal total testosterone (T) levels (250-350 ng/dL) and to determine whether a discriminatory threshold for FT exists below which hypogonadal symptoms become more prevalent.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the charts of 3167 men who presented to an outpatient men's health clinic. Two hundred thirty-one men had symptoms of "low testosterone" and serum testosterone levels between 250 and 350 ng/dL. We evaluated hypogonadal symptoms using the Androgen Deficiency in the Adult Male (ADAM) and quantitative ADAM (qADAM) questionnaires. Serum levels of T and sex hormone-binding globulin were collected on the same day that men completed their questionnaires. We used linear regression to determine whether a threshold of FT exists for hypogonadal symptoms. We performed univariate and multivariable analyses to evaluate factors that predicted a low FT level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age was 43.5 years, and the median testosterone and FT levels were 303 ng/dL and 6.3 ng/dL, respectively. Prevalence and severity of hypogonadal symptoms (ADAM and qADAM) were similar between men with low (<6.4 ng/mL) and normal FT levels. There was an association between age and 3 of the 10 hypogonadal symptoms (decreased enjoyment in life, sadness, and deterioration of work performance) with a low FT on a univariate analysis. Only younger age was positively associated with FT on multivariable analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We did not observe a relationship between hypogonadal symptoms and FT in men with near-normal testosterone levels. Symptom-specific FT thresholds could not be defined, as age remains an important confounder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. Electronic address: ranjithrama@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ranjith
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramasamy
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Golan
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wilken
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Scovell
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Larry I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Lipshultz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007006:Hypogonadism / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone