The epidemiology of plasma testosterone levels in middle-aged men

Several diseases, e.g., coronary heart disease, cancer, etc., have been related to sex hormones. Thus, research on the epidemiology of sex hormones may be productive. The epidemiologic study of testosterone has been limited due to the circadian and circannual variations and the wide interindividual variability. The authors evaluated the reliability and repeatability of a single blood draw to measure individual plasma testosterone levels in three pilot studies. The results indicated that the measurements of the hormone level are highly repeatable and a single morning specimen appeared to be sufficient for characterization of individual testosterone levels. Research then focussed on 243 men in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial to investigate the determinants of plasma testosterone level. The results indicated that age and obesity were significantly correlated with plasma testosterone level. (The multiple R of these two variables in the multiple regression analysis for plasma total testosterone was 0.32.) Smoking was positively related to testosterone through a relationship with age. Daily physical activity, history of alcohol intake, and behavior factors of A and B behavior types were not found to be related to testosterone concentrations.