Andropause: Results of A Comprehensive Surveillance of Prevalence and Risk Factors on 906 patients (ACoSPF-2010)

Introduction: Andropause is a common clinical entity of advanced age, with a decline in androgen levels in males. Many of the signs of male aging are results of this condition with significant decline in their quality of life and adverse effects on multiple organ systems function. Androgen Deficiency of the Aging Male (ADAM) questionnaire is one of the most applied screening tools for androgen deficiency. Few studies have examined the prevalence of this condition and reports on the relationship of potential risk factors especially at the population level are scarce. Material and Methods: We conducted an analytic cross-sectional study on a nationally representative sample of 906 Iranian male adults aged 40 to 88 years in a population based surveillance of prevalence and risk factors. A combined questionnaire comprising ADAM and Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) followed by questions regarding the risk factors was administered to each patient. Frequency of positive response to each question and the impact of risk factors on andropause were evaluated. Results: Out of the total population, 873 cases were included. Totally, 185(20.6%) of the subjects were diagnosed with andropause. The mean age of andropause was higher than non-andropause group, 70.20±9.42 and 65.61±11.64, respectively. The most frequent positively responded questions were number 1 and 7, respectively. Age, marital status, level of education and occupation, history of cigarette smoking, depression, hypertension, diabetes, hypothyroidism, glucocorticoid consumption, hepatic, renal and cardiac disease, independently had significant impact on andropause development our univariate analysis(P < 0.05). Age, marital status, level of education, cigarette smoking and history of depression, hypertension, diabetes and cardiac disease were associated with a greater risk, in multivariate analysis(P < 0.05). Conclusions: The high prevalence of andropause in our population points out the necessity to improve the social and medical health to prevent the condition that has serious consequences on patients’ quality of life.