The researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, US analysed the cases of 723 men who tested positive for COVID-19, mostly in 2020 before vaccines were available.
The data indicate that low testosterone is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 hospitalisation, similar to diabetes, heart disease and chronic lung disease.
The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, found that men with low testosterone who developed COVID-19 were 2.4 times more likely to require hospitalisation than those with hormone levels in the normal range.
