Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27995426›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2017

Who Gets Testosterone? Patient Characteristics Associated with Testosterone Prescribing in the Veteran Affairs System: a Cross-Sectional Study.

Guneet K Jasuja, Shalender Bhasin, Joel I Reisman, Joseph T Hanlon, Donald R Miller, Anthony P Morreale, Leonard M Pogach, Francesca E Cunningham, Angela Park, Dan R Berlowitz and 1 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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  5. Streamlined Testosterone Order Template to Improve the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Hypogonadism in Veterans.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2025
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  15. Who Gets Testosterone?Journal of general internal medicine · 2017
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.

Guneet K JasujaCenter for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), ENRM VAMC, Bedford VA Medical Center, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA, 01730, USA. guneet.jasuja@va.gov.
Shalender BhasinResearch Program in Men's Health, Aging and Metabolism, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Joel I ReismanCenter for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), ENRM VAMC, Bedford VA Medical Center, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA, 01730, USA.
Joseph T HanlonDivision of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Donald R MillerCenter for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), ENRM VAMC, Bedford VA Medical Center, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA, 01730, USA.
Anthony P MorrealeClinical Pharmacy Services and Healthcare Services Research, VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services VACO, Washington DC, USA.
Leonard M PogachDepartment of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Healthcare System-Center for Healthcare Knowledge Management, East Orange, NJ, USA.
Francesca E CunninghamVA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services, Hines, IL, USA.
Angela ParkNew England Veterans Engineering Resource Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA.
Dan R BerlowitzCenter for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), ENRM VAMC, Bedford VA Medical Center, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA, 01730, USA.
Adam J RoseCenter for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), ENRM VAMC, Bedford VA Medical Center, 200 Springs Road, Bedford, MA, 01730, USA.
Bedford VA Research Corporation · USBoston University · USBrigham and Women's Hospital · USEdward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital · USHealth Services Research & Development · USRutgers New Jersey Medical SchoolUniversity of Pittsburgh · USVA New England Healthcare System · US

Funding

VARIABILITY, STABILITY & SMOOTHNESS OF WALKINGP30AG024827 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI JENNIFER S BRACH · 2004 to 2026
$28.6M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG024827
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere has been concern about the growing off-label use of testosterone. Understanding the context within which testosterone is prescribed may contribute to interventions to improve prescribing.

objectiveTo evaluate patient characteristics associated with receipt of testosterone.

designCross-sectional.

settingA national cohort of male patients, who had received at least one outpatient prescription within the Veterans Affairs (VA) system during Fiscal Year 2008- Fiscal Year 2012.

participantsThe study sample consisted of 682,915 non-HIV male patients, of whom 132,764 had received testosterone and a random 10% sample, 550,151, had not. MAIN MEASURES: Conditions and medications associated with testosterone prescription. KEY

resultsOnly 6.3% of men who received testosterone from the VA during the study period had a disorder of the testis, pituitary or hypothalamus associated with male hypogonadism. Among patients without a diagnosed disorder of hypogonadism, the use of opioids and obesity were the strongest predictors of testosterone prescription. Patients receiving >100 mg/equivalents of oral morphine daily (adjusted odds ratio = 5.75, p < 0.001) and those with body mass index (BMI) >40 kg/m

conclusionsIn the VA, 93.7% of men receiving testosterone did not have a diagnosed condition of the testes, pituitary, or hypothalamus. The strongest predictors of testosterone receipt (e.g., obesity, receipt of opioids), which though are associated with unapproved, off-label use, may be valid reasons for therapy. Interventions should aim to increase the proportion of testosterone recipients who have a valid indication.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAnalgesics, OpioidAndrogensBody Mass IndexCase-Control StudiesComorbidityCross-Sectional StudiesHumansHypogonadismMaleMiddle AgedObesityOdds RatioOff-Label UseAnalgesics, OpioidAndrogensTestosteronepatientpredictorsprescribingtestosterone

Identifiers

PMID27995426
PMCPMC5331013
OpenAlexW4321508407

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.