Nelson Vergel
Founder, ExcelMale.com
This retrospective study from a commercial US health plan describes a population of more than 5,000 men with newly diagnosed primary or secondary hypogonadism. We found that patients with primary and secondary hypogonadism had increased health care utilization and cost during the year after their diagnosis compared with matched controls without diagnosed hypogonadism but with a similar baseline comorbidity burden.
These results are consistent with those of a previous study using retrospective data, also in the United States, but from a different source.11 Kaltenboeck et al11 examined a prevalent, rather than incident, hypogonadism cohort (including primary, secondary, and age-related etiologies) and used risk adjustment rather than direct matching to estimate control group costs. Annual risk-adjusted all-cause direct costs in that study were $9,291 for hypogonadism (any type) vs $5,248 for non-hypogonadism controls.
Further research is necessary to determine how primary and secondary hypogonadism contributes to increased health care costs over time. The constellation of symptoms observed in patients with hypogonadism—decreased energy, loss of muscle, depressed mood, fractures, and frailty—can lead to physical inactivity and aggravate the attendant risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This study was limited to 1 year of follow-up after hypogonadism diagnosis, so a full picture of the economic burden of hypogonadism might require longer observation. More research also is needed to investigate the potential benefit of TRT in mitigating the burden of hypogonadism.
http://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(16)30483-0/fulltext
These results are consistent with those of a previous study using retrospective data, also in the United States, but from a different source.11 Kaltenboeck et al11 examined a prevalent, rather than incident, hypogonadism cohort (including primary, secondary, and age-related etiologies) and used risk adjustment rather than direct matching to estimate control group costs. Annual risk-adjusted all-cause direct costs in that study were $9,291 for hypogonadism (any type) vs $5,248 for non-hypogonadism controls.
Further research is necessary to determine how primary and secondary hypogonadism contributes to increased health care costs over time. The constellation of symptoms observed in patients with hypogonadism—decreased energy, loss of muscle, depressed mood, fractures, and frailty—can lead to physical inactivity and aggravate the attendant risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This study was limited to 1 year of follow-up after hypogonadism diagnosis, so a full picture of the economic burden of hypogonadism might require longer observation. More research also is needed to investigate the potential benefit of TRT in mitigating the burden of hypogonadism.
http://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(16)30483-0/fulltext
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