Low Testosterone Levels and Risk of Anemia in Older Men and Women

A study in the July issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine concludes that older adults with low levels of testosterone have a higher risk of anemia.

Researchers from the National Institute on Aging; the Azienda Sanitaria, Florence, Italy; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore; Tuscany Regional Health Agency, Florence; and University of Parma, Parma, Italy, measured testosterone and hemoglobin levels in 905 people 65 years or older. None of the subjects had cancer, renal insufficiency, or anti-androgenic treatments. Thirty-one men and 57 women had anemia at baseline. After three years, researchers reassessed hemoglobin levels.

"Adjusting for confounders, we found that total and bioavailable testosterone levels were associated with hemoglobin levels in women (P = .001 and P = .02, respectively) and in men (P<.001 and P = .03, respectively)," the researchers reported in the results of their study. "Men and women in the lowest quartile of total and bioavailable testosterone were more likely than those in the highest to have anemia (men, 14/99 vs 3/100; odds ratio [OR], 5.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-21.8 for total and 16/99 vs 1/99; OR, 13.1; 95% CI, 1.5-116.9 for bioavailable testosterone; women, 21/129 vs 12/127; OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 0.9-5.0 for total and 24/127 vs 6/127; OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.2-9.4 for bioavailable testosterone).

"Among nonanemic participants and independent of confounders, men and women with low vs normal total and bioavailable testosterone levels had a significantly higher risk of developing anemia at 3-year follow-up (21/167 vs 28/444; relative risk, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1-4.1 for total and 26/143 vs 23/468; relative risk, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.9-7.8 for bioavailable testosterone)."