PS237. Bidirectional Relationships between Androgen Deficiency and Mood Disorders: A Nationwide Population- based Cohort study Free

Abstract

Objective: The association between testosterone level and mood was studied widely with inconsistent findings. However, the objective of this study was to investigate whether patients with depressive disorders in those suffering from erectile dysfunction were at an increased risk for androgen deficiency.

Methods: A conditional logistic regression model was performed using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database, a nationwide dataset in Taiwan. The study sample included 8,515 patients with incident erectile dysfunction first diagnosed between 1996 and 2011. We analyzed the relationship between those with major depressive disorder and depressive disorders and those who underwent testosterone level investigation as a potential population with androgen deficiency.

Results: 3,243 (38%) of 8,515 patients with erectile dysfunction underwent testosterone level investigation. 372 (4%) of 8,515 patients with erectile dysfunction had comorbid diagnosis of major depressive disorder; Among these patients, 206 (55.4%) patients sought for psychiatric clinic first. Likewise, 1683 (20%) of patients with erectile dysfunction were diagnosed with depressive disorders; only 721 (42.8%) of them sought for urology clinics before depression was detected. The proportion of patients tested with testosterone level is higher with those diagnosed with major depressive disorder (5.2% vs. 3.9%, p=0.006) and depressive disorders (21.1% vs. 18.9%, p=0.014).

Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest a positive association between the presence of depressive disorders among patients with erectile dysfunction and an increased risk of receiving testosterone level investigation, suggesting the possibility of androgen deficiency in these patients. As these results suggest, physicians might be prone to notice the possibility of androgen deficiency when encountered with depressive symptoms in treating patients with erectile dysfunction.