Cargando…

Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone

Prescription testosterone sales in the United States have skyrocketed in the last two decades due to an aging population, direct-to-consumer advertising, and prescriber views of the benefits and risks to testosterone, among other factors. However, few studies have attempted to directly examine patie...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Straftis, Alex A., Gray, Peter B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6765788/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31491933
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183261
_version_ 1783454561948663808
author Straftis, Alex A.
Gray, Peter B.
author_facet Straftis, Alex A.
Gray, Peter B.
author_sort Straftis, Alex A.
collection PubMed
description Prescription testosterone sales in the United States have skyrocketed in the last two decades due to an aging population, direct-to-consumer advertising, and prescriber views of the benefits and risks to testosterone, among other factors. However, few studies have attempted to directly examine patient experiences on prescription testosterone therapy. The present exploratory study involved an online self-report survey of U.S. testosterone patients who were at least 21 years of age. The primary focus was on patient perspectives concerning motivations leading to the initiation of testosterone therapy and the perceived effects of treatment. Responses to open-ended questions drew upon a coding scheme incorporating both inductive and deductive approaches, influenced by the clinical, male life history theory, and behavioral endocrinology literature. Results indicated that the most frequent reasons men gave for taking prescription testosterone were low testosterone (37.1%), well-being (35.2%), energy (28.7%), libido (21.9%), and social energy (19.4%); older men claimed libido as a motivation for testosterone initiation more frequently than younger men (p < 0.001). Men most frequently claimed testosterone improved their energy (52.3%), libido (41.9%), and muscle (28.5%). Results are interpreted in the context of medical, life history theoretical and behavioral endocrinology approaches, including an emphasis on sex and energy.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6765788
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-67657882019-09-30 Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone Straftis, Alex A. Gray, Peter B. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Prescription testosterone sales in the United States have skyrocketed in the last two decades due to an aging population, direct-to-consumer advertising, and prescriber views of the benefits and risks to testosterone, among other factors. However, few studies have attempted to directly examine patient experiences on prescription testosterone therapy. The present exploratory study involved an online self-report survey of U.S. testosterone patients who were at least 21 years of age. The primary focus was on patient perspectives concerning motivations leading to the initiation of testosterone therapy and the perceived effects of treatment. Responses to open-ended questions drew upon a coding scheme incorporating both inductive and deductive approaches, influenced by the clinical, male life history theory, and behavioral endocrinology literature. Results indicated that the most frequent reasons men gave for taking prescription testosterone were low testosterone (37.1%), well-being (35.2%), energy (28.7%), libido (21.9%), and social energy (19.4%); older men claimed libido as a motivation for testosterone initiation more frequently than younger men (p < 0.001). Men most frequently claimed testosterone improved their energy (52.3%), libido (41.9%), and muscle (28.5%). Results are interpreted in the context of medical, life history theoretical and behavioral endocrinology approaches, including an emphasis on sex and energy. MDPI 2019-09-05 2019-09 /pmc/articles/PMC6765788/ /pubmed/31491933 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183261 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Straftis, Alex A.
Gray, Peter B.
Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone
title Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone
title_full Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone
title_fullStr Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone
title_full_unstemmed Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone
title_short Sex, Energy, Well-Being and Low Testosterone: An Exploratory Survey of U.S. Men’s Experiences on Prescription Testosterone
title_sort sex, energy, well-being and low testosterone: an exploratory survey of u.s. men’s experiences on prescription testosterone
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6765788/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31491933
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183261
work_keys_str_mv AT straftisalexa sexenergywellbeingandlowtestosteroneanexploratorysurveyofusmensexperiencesonprescriptiontestosterone
AT graypeterb sexenergywellbeingandlowtestosteroneanexploratorysurveyofusmensexperiencesonprescriptiontestosterone