German version of the Hypogonadism Impact of Symptoms Questionnaire: Psychometric properties and association with testosterone levels

Abstract

The diagnosis 'male hypogonadism' is used to describe a disturbance of testicular endocrine function. It is characterized by symptoms of androgen deficiency in combination with low-serum concentration of testosterone in males of all ages (Bhasin et al.2018;Corona et al., 2020;Dohle et al., 2018). Approximately 6% of middle-aged males are affected (Araujo et al., 2007). Symptoms of androgen deficiency include sexual, somatic, psychological and cognitive symptoms (Corona et al., 2020;Zitzmann et al., 2020).The assessment of symptoms of hypogonadism in clinical practice is difficult, due to patients` discomfort in reporting their complaints. Therefore, a questionnaire filled in by the patient outside the consultation room that is able to detect and monitor symptoms of hypogonadism would be of diagnostic and therapeutic help. In German speaking countries, the 'Aging Males' Symptom Scale (AMS)'