Some studies suggest that testosterone therapy has additional effects , which include increased bone mineral density and decreased serum high-density lipoprotein ( HDL ) cholesterol .
The clinical sequelae of oestrogen deficiency during menopause are undoubted .
However , the pathophysiological role of testosterone during the menopause is less clear .
Several r and omized , placebo-controlled clinical trials suggest that testosterone therapy improves sexual function in postmenopausal women .
Evaluation of the clinical relevance of benefits associated with transdermal testosterone treatment in postmenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder.
INTRODUCTION Postmenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder ( HSDD ) experienced statistically significant improvements in the frequency of satisfying sexual activity , sexual desire , and distress with testosterone treatment in phase III trials , but it was not known whether the magnitude of these effects was clinical ly meaningful . The clinical relevance study was design ed to answer this question . AIM To evaluate the clinical relevance of the treatment benefits . METHODS This study involved a representative sample of 132 surgically postmenopausal women with HSDD who were enrolled in two r and omized , placebo-controlled trials ( N = 1094 ) assessing the efficacy and safety of transdermal testosterone treatment ( 300 mcg/day ) for 6 months . At the end of the studies , prior to unblinding , a sample of women ( 12 % ) was interviewed concerning their experiences with the treatment . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Women were asked " Overall , would you say that you experienced a meaningful benefit from the study patches ? " Changes in the efficacy end points in the double-blind studies were compared for the women who did and did not experience an overall meaningful benefit . RESULTS Overall , 33 of 64 women ( 52 % ) who received testosterone reported experiencing a meaningful treatment benefit , compared with 21 of 68 women ( 31 % ) who received placebo ( P = 0.025 ) . Among the women who identified themselves as experiencing a meaningful benefit , the mean ( SE ) change from baseline in 4-week frequency of satisfying sexual activity was 4.4 ( 0.76 ) , in desire score was 21.0 ( 2.78 ) , moving from " seldom " to " sometimes " feeling sexual desire , and in distress score was -36.5 ( 3.96 ) , moving from " often " to " seldom " being distressed . Among the women who identified themselves as not experiencing a meaningful benefit , the mean ( SE ) change from baseline in 4-week frequency of satisfying sexual activity was 0.5 ( 0.31 ) , in desire score was 2.9 ( 1.42 ) , and in distress score was -8.8 ( 2.23 ) . CONCLUSIONS Surgically menopausal women with HSDD in these studies received clinical ly meaningful benefits , including improvements in satisfying sexual activity , sexual desire , and personal distress
Some studies suggest that testosterone therapy has additional effects , which include increased bone mineral density and decreased serum high-density lipoprotein ( HDL ) cholesterol .
The clinical sequelae of oestrogen deficiency during menopause are undoubted .
However , the pathophysiological role of testosterone during the menopause is less clear .
Several r and omized , placebo-controlled clinical trials suggest that testosterone therapy improves sexual function in postmenopausal women .