title: Can an Intervention with Testosterone and Nutritional Supplement Improve the Frailty Level of Under-Nourished Older People?
abstract: To examine whether a testosterone and a high calorie nutritional supplement intervention can reduce frailty scores in undernourished older people using multiple frailty tools.
  
  
  
  Randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  
  53 community-dwelling, undernourished men and women aged >65 years from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
  
  
  
  Intervention group received oral testosterone undecanoate and a high calorie supplement (2108-2416 kJ/day) whereas the control group received placebo testosterone and low calorie supplement (142-191 kJ/day).
  
  
  
  Frailty was operationalized using three frailty indices (FI-lab, FI-self-report, FI-combined) and the frailty phenotype.
  
  
  
  There were no significant differences in changes in frailty scores at either 6 or 12 months follow up between the two treatment groups for all scales. Participants at the intervention group were 4.8 times more likely to improve their FI-combined score at both time points compared to the placebo group.
  
  
  
  A testosterone and a high calorie nutritional supplement intervention did not improve the frailty levels of under-nourished older people. Even so, when frailty was measured using a frailty index combining self-reported and lab data we found that participants who received the intervention were more likely to show persistent improvement in their frailty scores.
authors.affiliation: Olga Theou, Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Health Authority, Suite 1313, 5955 Veterans' Memorial Lane, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2E1, Canada. Tel: 902-473-4846, e-mail: otheou@alumni.uwo.ca.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Theou
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wijeyaratne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piantadosi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Naganathan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rockwood
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Visvanathan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000728:Androgens / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D002149:Energy Intake; D015444:Exercise; D005221:Fatigue; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000628:therapy*; D009517:New South Wales; D013021:South Australia; D013739:Testosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014739:Victoria; D000070857:Walk Test; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D013739:Testosterone; C010792:testosterone undecanoate