Justin Dubin, MD, on testosterone therapy usage trends in young adult men

Author(s):

Key Takeaways

Significant interest in testosterone supplementation exists among men under 40, with 40% expressing interest and 14% having used it.
Many users resort to illegal substances like SARMS or anabolic steroids, raising safety concerns.
Only 28% of users obtain testosterone from urologists, with others using primary care or direct-to-consumer sources.
Privacy and safety are prioritized over cost, reflecting stigmas in men's health and the need for understanding patient values.

"Looking at the survey results, we found that about 40% of men under the age of 40 are interested, at least, in supplementing their testosterone," says Justin Dubin, MD.

In this video, Justin Dubin, MD, gives an overview of the study “Utilization Patterns of Testosterone Supplementation and Replacement in Young Adult Men,” which he presented at the 2024 Sexual Medicine Society of North America Fall Scientific Meeting. Dubin is a urologist with Memorial Healthcare System in Aventura, Florida.

Transcription:

Please provide an overview of this study and its notable findings.

In my office, I continue to see a lot more young men coming in who are either interested in testosterone replacement therapy or are currently on it and are seeking additional advice or counseling, and it had prompted our exploration of this topic. What we decided to do is we surveyed men under the age of 40, and we asked them questions regarding their interest in testosterone replacement therapy usage, whether they've used it in the past, how they get it, what they've used and really, what were the determining factors for the place that they got it from? Looking at the survey results, we found that about 40% of men under the age of 40 are interested, at least, in supplementing their testosterone. Almost 14% of men are or have used testosterone replacement therapy or some kind of testosterone booster in the past. What was concerning about that, though, was that the people who were using them, a large portion of them, were actually using illegal substances like SARMS or anabolic steroids. That is obviously not great. When we looked at who they were getting these things from, the majority of them were not getting from urologists. Only about 28% were getting it actually from urologists, about 15% from direct to consumer, about 22% from primary care. So there are a lot of different resources, where these men are getting it from, and when they were looking at how they decided on where to get their testosterone replacement therapy from, they actually valued safety and privacy over cost. And I think that when we look at this, it's kind of ironic, because we're having people use the less safe medications, but I think the key here is privacy. I think people are willing to spend more money to have anonymity in their medical interventions. This really highlights stigmas in men's health, right? People don't want to come into an office. They don't want to announce to the people around them that they're having a problem because a lot of the things we associate with, low testosterone: low energy, low sex drive, masculinity, muscle development, energy. These are all things we identify as men. And by coming into an office and announcing it to other people almost, people are embarrassed to do that. So we really need to understand where our patients are coming from, what they value in an intervention and in care, if we're going to meet them where they are and give them the best care possible.

This transcript was AI generated and edited by human editors for clarity.