Medication adherence and treatment patterns for hypogonadal patients treated with topical testosterone therapy: a...

There is limited information on adherence to topical testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) among hypogonadal men.

To determine adherence rates among men treated with topical testosterone gels and to examine factors that may influence adherence, including age, presence of a specific diagnosis, and index dose.

Included were 15,435 hypogonadal men, from the Thomson Reuters MarketScan Database, who had an initial topical testosterone prescription in 2009 and who were followed for 12 months.

Adherence to testosterone was measured by medication possession ratio (MPR), with high adherence defined as ≥0.8. Persistence was defined as the duration of therapy from the index date to the earliest of the following events: end date of the last prescription, date of the first gap of >30 days between prescriptions, or end of the study period (12 months).

Adherence to topical TRT was low. By 6 months, only 34.7% of patients had continued on medication; at 12 months, only 15.4%. Adherence rates were numerically similar among men who received AndroGel or Testim topical gels and did not differ among men of different age groups. Approximately 80% of patients initiated at the recommended dose of 50 mg/day. Over time, an increased proportion of men used a higher dose. This change was the result of dose escalation, rather than of greater adherence among men initiating therapy at a high dose. Dose escalation was seen as early as 1 month into therapy. Approximately 50% of men who discontinued treatment resumed therapy; most men used the same medication and dose.

Discontinuation rates are high among hypogonadal men treated with testosterone gels, irrespective of their age, diagnosis, and index dose. Further study, evaluating other measurable factors associated with low adherence among patients receiving topical TRT, may lead to interventions designed to improve adherence with therapy.