Fewer than one in five hypogonadal men are adherent to prescribed topical testosterone, new research indicates.
The findings, from a large commercial insurance database, were presented May 5 here at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 2017 Annual Scientific & Clinical Congress by Michael Grabner, PhD, of HealthCore, Wilmingon, Delaware.
[style=font-weight:bold;]Among a total of 3184 men with primary or secondary hypogonadism who had filled a prescription for topical testosterone therapy of any kind (brand-name or generic), just 17% were defined as adherent. And over 1 year, 81% of the men discontinued treatment.[/style]
These results are similar to two other studies for which data were collected in 2009, Dr Grabner told Medscape Medical News. "Adherence is still suboptimal. We're, way, way off.…It's been 7 years, and we're still pretty low."
Asked to comment, AACE president Jonathan D Leffert, MD, of North Texas Endocrine Center, Dallas, called the results "unfortunate, but not terribly surprising, from my experience." One of the problems, he noted, is that many men don't think of hypogonadism as a chronic condition.
"Hypogonadism, if it's truly diagnosed correctly, is a chronic disease just like diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia.…Some people think that 'if I just get that jump-start I'll be better, I'll feel better, and then I can just stop it and go on,' but that's not reality."
Thus, Dr Leffert advised, "When you start treating patients, you have to clearly say this is something you're going to be taking essentially for a lifetime if that's really the case."
And of course, he and Dr Grabner both pointed out, the cost of the medications may be another factor, as well as concerns about adverse effects.
More
The findings, from a large commercial insurance database, were presented May 5 here at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 2017 Annual Scientific & Clinical Congress by Michael Grabner, PhD, of HealthCore, Wilmingon, Delaware.
[style=font-weight:bold;]Among a total of 3184 men with primary or secondary hypogonadism who had filled a prescription for topical testosterone therapy of any kind (brand-name or generic), just 17% were defined as adherent. And over 1 year, 81% of the men discontinued treatment.[/style]
These results are similar to two other studies for which data were collected in 2009, Dr Grabner told Medscape Medical News. "Adherence is still suboptimal. We're, way, way off.…It's been 7 years, and we're still pretty low."
Asked to comment, AACE president Jonathan D Leffert, MD, of North Texas Endocrine Center, Dallas, called the results "unfortunate, but not terribly surprising, from my experience." One of the problems, he noted, is that many men don't think of hypogonadism as a chronic condition.
"Hypogonadism, if it's truly diagnosed correctly, is a chronic disease just like diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia.…Some people think that 'if I just get that jump-start I'll be better, I'll feel better, and then I can just stop it and go on,' but that's not reality."
Thus, Dr Leffert advised, "When you start treating patients, you have to clearly say this is something you're going to be taking essentially for a lifetime if that's really the case."
And of course, he and Dr Grabner both pointed out, the cost of the medications may be another factor, as well as concerns about adverse effects.
More
