A new study suggests that lower testosterone is associated with increased likelihood of arthritis.
The study published in the Scientific Reports analysed data from 10,439 adults (mainly aged 20 years and older) who participated in the 2013–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The model estimations were adjusted for covariates such as age, gender, race, educational attainment, marital status, income, alcohol intake, smoking status, test reports, laboratory findings, survey responses, and comorbidities.
The authors of the current study noted that previous research already suggested that testosterone levels might impact the development of arthritis. They wanted to delve further into the association in their study analysis.
Among the study participants, 48 per cent were male, with a mean age of 47 years and a mean serum testosterone level of 215. Among the participants, 27 per cent developed arthritis.
Participants with arthritis were more likely to be female if they were older compared to the non-arthritis group. Among these participants the prevalence was higher if they had smoking, waist circumference, BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
The researchers led by Lulu Cheng of the College of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, China, and Graduate School, Wuhan Sports University, China, said they discovered that lower serum testosterone was associated with a higher risk of arthritis.
The researchers noted that previous research already suggested that testosterone levels might impact the development of arthritis. They wanted to delve further into the association in their study analysis.
According to them, the relationship remained constant even after the addition of factors like age, sex, race, education level, marital status, BMI, alcohol status, smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, and others.
“In this study, patients with arthritis had significantly lower serum testosterone levels than the non-arthritic population. This is consistent with several other studies showing that patients with arthritis have lower testosterone levels than the general population.
“The relationship between serum testosterone and arthritis was at least partially correlated with the effects of sex, and BMI, as revealed by our in-depth study of the nonlinear and negative association between serum testosterone and arthritis,” they added.
