Association between low-testosterone and kidney stones in US men: The national health and nutrition examination survey 2011–2012

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between low-testosterone (total testosterone ≤3 ng/mL) and prevalence of kidney stones (KS) in men 20 years and older, and whether this varies by comorbidities, and race/ethnicity, and age. This was a cross-sectional study with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2012 cycle. We found that men with low-testosterone had 41% lower odds of KS as compared to men without low-testosterone after multivariable adjustment (OR: 0.59, 95% CI 0.40–0.86). When stratified by obesity, obese men with low-testosterone had 59% lower odds of KS. When stratified by HDL, men with HDL ≥ 40 mg/dL and with low-testosterone had 40% lower odds of KS. When stratified by diabetes, men without diabetes with low-testosterone had 39% lower odds of KS, but the association was not significant in diabetic men with low-testosterone and other comorbidities. There were significant differences when stratified by race/ethnicity. Finally, when stratified by age, only the subgroup of men ≥40–<60 years old with low-testosterone had 68% lower odds of KS (OR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.16–0.67). The association between low-testosterone and KS was inversed. Similar associations were identified when stratified by obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, race/ethnicity and age.