Table 1.
Selected characteristics of the eight RCTs included in this systematic review.
| Authors | Year of publication | Area | Number of randomized populations | Per-protocol population | Sex (M/W) |
Mean age (years) Experimental/ Control |
Types of androgens and dosage | Grouping | Duration of treatment | Safety measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schols et al. | 1995 | The Netherlands | 217 | 203 | M/W | NR | ND on day 1, 15, 29 and 43 | P: placebo N: placebo + nutrition N+A: ND + nutrition |
8 weeks | no |
| Ferreira et al. | 1998 | Brazil | 23 | 17 | M | 70.3/66.1 | testosterone | placebo group and testosterone group | 27 weeks | no |
| Creutzberg et al. | 2003 | The Netherlands | 63 | 56 | M | 66/67 | 50 mg ND on day 1, 15, 29 and 43 | placebo group and ND group | 8 weeks | ESR declined. LDH elevated. |
| Svartberg et al. | 2004 | Norway | 29 | 27 | M | 64.5/67.5 | 250 mg testosterone every fourth week | placebo group and testosterone group | 26 weeks | no |
| Casaburi et al. | 2004 | USA | 53 | 47 | M | No training: 66.6/67.6 Training: 66.4/68.9 |
100 mg/week of testosterone | placebo; testosterone; placebo + training; testosterone + training. | 10 weeks | Hemoglobin elevated |
| Sharma et al. | 2008 | Canada | 16 | 16 | M/W | 71.0/64.2 | 50 mg testosterone biweekly for men and 25 mg for women | Placebo group and ND group | 16 weeks | no |
| Pison et al. | 2011 | France | 126 | 122 | M/W | 66.6/65.1 | oral testosterone undecanoate, M 80 mg/W 40 mg twice daily with PR | Control group and multimodal+ nutritional+ rehabilitation group | 90 days | no |
| Daga et al. | 2014 | India | 32 | 32 | M | 60.05/56.75 | 25 mg ND on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and 35 | placebo group and ND group | 6 weeks | no |
RCTs, randomized controlled trials; W, women; M, man; NR, not reported; ND, nandrolone decanoate; P, placebo; N, nutrition supplementation; PR, pulmonary rehabilitation; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase.