Findings compared with exercise therapy alone or usual care among older women<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
TUESDAY, May 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Topical testosterone therapy does not significantly improve functional outcomes beyond supervised exercise training in older women recovering from a hip fracture, according to a study published online May 15 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ellen F. Binder, M.D., from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues evaluated the effects of a supervised exercise program combined with topical testosterone therapy on functional outcomes in women aged 65 years or older with a recent hip fracture. The analysis included 122 women randomly assigned to exercise plus testosterone, exercise plus placebo, or enhanced usual care.<\/p>\n The researchers found no significant differences in the mean change in the six-minute walking distance between baseline and 24 weeks for exercise plus topical testosterone gel (53 patients; 42.7 m) versus exercise plus placebo gel (51 patients; 40.5 m) or enhanced usual care (18 patients; 37.7 m).<\/p>\n “It is notable that at the end of the intervention period, women assigned to exercise and testosterone had a significant reduction in the use of walking aids and greater improvement in a short-distance performance measure than women assigned to exercise and placebo,” Binder said in a statement. “This finding will need further exploration to confirm whether testosterone therapy can facilitate recovery after a hip fracture in older women.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries.<\/p>\n