Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics by Quartile of Serum Total Testosterone Among Men With No Prior Cardiovascular Diseases
| Characteristic, mean ± SD or n (%) | Overall | T quartile 1 < 307 ng/dL | T quartile 2 307-391 ng/dL | T quartile 3 391-495 ng/dL | T quartile 4 ≥ 495 ng/dL | P- valuea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (N = 552) | (N = 139) | (N = 135) | (N = 136) | (N = 142) | ||
| Age at inclusion, years | 72.4 ± 5.4 | 72.8 ± 5.5 | 72.2 ± 5.5 | 72.3 ± 5.4 | 72.0 ± 5.1 | 0.63 |
| Self-reported race/ethnicity | 0.44 b | |||||
| White | 504 (91.3) | 132 (95.0) | 123 (91.1) | 125 (91.9) | 124 (87.3) | |
| African American | 16 (2.9) | 3 (2.2) | 3 (2.2) | 4 (2.9) | 6 (4.2) | |
| Asian/Hispanic/Other | 32 (5.8) | 4 (2.9) | 9 (6.7) | 7 (5.2) | 12 (8.5) | |
| Weight, kg | 84.6 ± 12.7 | 89.7 ± 13.2 | 85.2 ± 12.9 | 84.1 ± 12.1 | 79.6 ± 10.6 | <0.001 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 27.6 ± 3.6 | 29.3 ± 4.0 | 27.6 ± 3.4 | 27.1 ± 3.2 | 26.3 ± 3.0 | <0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 137.9 ± 17.7 | 140.7 ± 19.1 | 136.3 ± 15.5 | 138.8 ± 17.6 | 136.1 ± 18.2 | 0.10 |
| Lifestyle | ||||||
| Current smoker | 18 (3.3) | 4 (2.9) | 1 (0.7) | 5 (3.7) | 8 (5.6) | 0.14 b |
| Alcohol consumption, standard drinks per week | 5.0 ± 8.1 | 5.4 ± 9.3 | 4.9 ± 6.8 | 5.1 ± 7.1 | 4.7 ± 8.9 | 0.63 |
| Physical activity, PASE score | 157.7 ± 66.9 | 155.2 ± 69.3 | 152.9 ± 64.1 | 162.4 ± 69.3 | 160.4 ± 65.0 | 0.61 |
| Number of IADL impairments (range 0-5) | 0.19 ± 0.60 | 0.22 ± 0.56 | 0.18 ± 0.56 | 0.15 ± 0.54 | 0.21 ± 0.72 | 0.38 |
| Medical history | ||||||
| Hypertension | 212 (38.4) | 65 (46.8) | 51 (37.8) | 48 (35.3) | 48 (33.8) | 0.11 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 63 (12.0) | 24 (18.3) | 15 (11.6) | 13 (9.9) | 11 (8.3) | 0.06 |
| Current medications c | ||||||
| Aspirin | 159 (28.8) | 42 (30.2) | 34 (25.2) | 44 (32.4) | 39 (27.5) | 0.58 |
| Lipid-lowering drugs | 126 (22.8) | 36 (25.9) | 40 (29.6) | 32 (23.5) | 18 (12.7) | 0.006 |
| Statin | 122 (22.1) | 34 (24.5) | 39 (28.9) | 31 (22.8) | 18 (12.7) | 0.01 |
| Gemfibrozil | 4 (0.7) | 2 (1.4) | 1 (0.7) | 1 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0.57 b |
| Anti-hypertensive drugs | 211 (38.2) | 66 (47.5) | 53 (39.3) | 50 (36.8) | 42 (29.6) | 0.02 |
| Diabetes mellitus treatment | 32 (5.8) | 9 (6.5) | 11 (8.2) | 7 (5.2) | 5 (3.5) | 0.40 |
| Oral hypoglycemic agents | 32 (5.8) | 9 (6.5) | 11 (8.2) | 7 (5.2) | 5 (3.5) | 0.40 |
| Insulin | 6 (1.1) | 2 (1.4) | 1 (0.7) | 2 (1.5) | 1 (0.7) | 0.88 b |
| Lipid profile | ||||||
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL | 197.1 ± 32.5 | 194.6 ± 33.5 | 197.1 ± 34.0 | 192.9 ± 29.5 | 203.5 ± 32.1 | 0.04 |
| LDL-cholesterol, mg/dL | 118.7 ± 29.3 | 113.9 ± 30.1 | 117.0 ± 31.1 | 118.1 ± 27.8 | 125.7 ± 27.0 | 0.009 |
| HDL-cholesterol, mg/dL | 49.4 ± 13.5 | 46.7 ± 12.4 | 46.8 ± 11.6 | 50.5 ± 13.6 | 53.8 ± 14.9 | <0.001 |
| Triglycerides, mg/dL | 144.6 ± 84.9 | 170.3 ± 98.6 | 166.8 ± 95.9 | 121.6 ± 61.5 | 120.4 ± 64.1 | <0.001 |
| Glucose, mg/dL | 104.7 ± 24.8 | 110.5 ± 22.6 | 104.3 ± 25.1 | 103.6 ± 28.8 | 100.4 ± 21.2 | <0.001 |
| Insulin, µIU/mL | 9.16 ± 6.26 | 11.63 ± 6.35 | 10.03 ± 6.99 | 8.13 ± 6.31 | 6.92 ± 4.03 | <0.001 |
| Sex hormones | ||||||
| Total T, ng/dL | 415.0 ± 156.9 | 249.6 ± 52.0 | 346.6 ± 22.9 | 437.1 ± 29.8 | 620.7 ± 132.9 | <0.001 |
| Bioavailable T, ng/dL | 212.8 ± 62.5 | 148.8 ± 33.7 | 191.7 ± 24.0 | 224.5 ± 27.8 | 284.5 ± 55.4 | <0.001 |
| Total E2, pg/mL | 22.7 ± 7.3 | 19.1 ± 5.9 | 21.0 ± 5.4 | 22.8 ± 6.4 | 27.8 ± 8.0 | <0.001 |
| Bioavailable E2, pg/mL | 14.6 ± 4.4 | 13.7 ± 4.3 | 14.2 ± 3.9 | 14.5 ± 4.3 | 16.0 ± 4.8 | <0.001 |
| T:E2 ratio | 189.6 ± 65.8 | 138.2 ± 42.4 | 175.7 ± 45.6 | 207.4 ± 65.2 | 235.8 ± 62.0 | <0.001 |
| Estrone, pg/mL | 33.5 ± 11.9 | 32.0 ± 12.1 | 32.5 ± 11.1 | 33.9 ± 12.9 | 35.4 ± 11.4 | 0.07 |
| SHBG, nmol/L | 48.0 ± 17.8 | 34.6 ± 10.6 | 41.9 ± 10.5 | 50.2 ± 12.4 | 64.7 ± 19.4 | <0.001 |
Abbreviations: E2, estradiol; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; PASE, physical activity scale for the elderly; SD, standard deviation; SHBG, sex hormone-binding globulin; T, total testosterone; T:E2 ratio, total testosterone / total estradiol ratio.
Footnotes: a P values are from ANOVA for normally distributed continuous variables and Kruskal-Wallis test for skewed continuous variables. P-values for categorical data are from a chi-squared test for homogeneity. bChi-squared may not be a valid test since too many cells have expected counts < 5 (unable to obtain Fisher’s exact P value). c Current medication use was based on review of prescription medications used in the previous 30 days.