Conclusions
In men over 80 years, we confirm an association between T levels and baseline frailty scores. The new finding of association between T levels and disability is potentially relevant to debates on T supplementation in older men, though, as associations were not present at 24 months, further work is needed.
Results
Participants: 243 men, mean (SD) age 83.7 (2.0) years. Mean (SD) TT=17.6 (6.8) nmol/L and fT=225.3 (85.4) pmol/L. On multivariate analyses, lower TT levels were associated with frailty: β=0.41, p=0.017, coefficient of determination (R2)=0.10 and disability (NEADL) (β=-1.27, p=0.017, R2=0.11), low haemoglobin (β=-7.38, p=0.0016, R2=0.05), high fasting glucose (β=0.38, p=0.038, R2=0.04) and high C reactive protein (CRP) (β=3.57, p=0.01, R2=0.06). Low fT levels were associated with frailty (β=0.39, p=0.024, R2=0.09) but not baseline NEADL (β=-1.29, p=0.09, R2=0.09). Low fT was associated with low haemoglobin (β=-7.83, p=0.0008, R2=0.05) and high CRP (β=2.86, p=0.04, R2=0.05). Relationships between baseline TT and fT, and 24-month outcomes of disability and frailty were not significant. Conclusions: In men over 80 years, we confirm an association between T levels and baseline frailty scores. The new finding of association between T levels and disability is potentially relevant to debates on T supplementation in older men, though, as associations were not present at 24 months, further work is needed.