ReviewCureus2018
Transdermal Testosterone in Female Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: A Rapid Qualitative Systematic Review Using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation.
Review in Cureus, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transdermal Hormonal Therapy in Menopause: Current Evidence and Personalized Approaches.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Review
- Challenges of prescribing testosterone for sexual dysfunction in women: Number 7 - 2024.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2024Article
- Pharmacotherapy for Sexual Dysfunction in Women.Current psychiatry reports · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Female hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is a multifactorial sexual dysfunction disorder characterized by a decrease in sexual desire and personal distress. HSDD occurs in naturally occurring postmenopausal women or secondary to oophorectomy. Multiple studies have assessed the use of transdermal testosterone (TDT) as a management option for patients with HSDD. Our aim is to assess published studies using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework for the quality of evidence regarding testosterone use as a short- and long-term therapy for HSDD. We implemented this qualitative systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. We set a GRADE score of 4 (high evidence) as a cutoff point for the quality measure of published studies assessing the use of TDT in HSDD. The outcomes of interest were the efficacy of TDT on the total number of satisfying sexual activity, number of orgasms, sexual desire and distress level in patients with HSDD. These outcomes were evaluated through Sexual Activity Log (SAL), Profile of Female Sexual Function (PFSF), and Personal Distress Scale (PDS) evaluation tools. Five randomized controlled trials were identified to meet the inclusion criteria. The selected studies were of high evidence based on the GRADE score as two of the studies scored 4 points, the other two studies scored 5 points and one study scored 6 points. All of the high quality selected studies had similar outcomes suggesting high effectiveness for the use of 300 µg/d TDT with or without estrogen for the management of HSDD with minimal side effects. One study showed a trend for higher risk of breast cancer in long-term use (0.37%). The use of 300 µg/d of TDT in surgical and natural menopause is an effective plan to manage HSDD in the short- and long-term. Although side effects are minimal, further prospective research is needed to assess the more severe side effects such as breast cancer in the long-term use of TDT.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.