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Case Reports
. 2021 Jan;18(1):215-218.
doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.09.013. Epub 2020 Oct 9.

COVID-19 Infection in Men on Testosterone Replacement Therapy

Amarnath Rambhatla  1 , Chandler J Bronkema  2 , Nicholas Corsi  2 , Jacob Keeley  3 , Akshay Sood  4 , Ziad Affas  3 , Ali A Dabaja  5 , Craig G Rogers  5 , Stephen A Liroff  5 , Firas Abdollah  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

COVID-19 Infection in Men on Testosterone Replacement Therapy

Amarnath Rambhatla et al. J Sex Med. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Men who contract coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) appear to have worse clinical outcomes compared with women which raises the possibility of androgen-dependent effects.

Aim: We sought to determine if testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is associated with worse clinical outcomes.

Methods: Through a retrospective chart review, we identified 32 men diagnosed with COVID-19 and on TRT. They were propensity score matched to 63 men diagnosed with COVID-19 and not on TRT. Data regarding comorbidities and endpoints such as hospital admission, intensive care unit admission, ventilator utilization, thromboembolic events, and death were extracted. Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests examined differences in categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Logistic regression analysis tested the relationship between TRT status and the study endpoints.

Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups, and TRT was not a predictor of any of the endpoints on multivariate analysis.

Conclusion: These results suggest that TRT is not associated with a worse clinical outcome in men diagnosed with COVID-19. Rambhatla A, Bronkema CJ, Corsi N, et al. COVID-19 Infection in Men on Testosterone Replacement Therapy. J Sex Med 2021;18:215-218.

Keywords: Androgens; COVID-19; Hypogonadism; SARS-CoV-2; Testosterone; Testosterone Replacement Therapy; Venous Thromboembolism.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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