Frequent Inaccuracies in Testosterone Testing Lead to Call for Standardization

EurekAlert! -- Chevy Chase, MD—The use of testosterone assays for patient care and research is on the rise as new research links testosterone to a variety of diseases and conditions. Although the assays are heavily used, discrepancies and inaccuracies in measurements resulting from the various assays are widespread. Seeking to address this critical health issue, a multidisciplinary group of experts convened by The Endocrine Society and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just issued recommendations for improving and standardizing testosterone testing in a consensus statement to be published in the October 2010 issue of The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).